While You Were Sleeping
by transmutejun
Summary: The title is borrowed from a movie, the characters are borrowed from Sandy Frank, and the original idea for this was borrowed from Chickeebaybee. But the story is all mine. The war has ended, leaving Mark, Jason and Princess in comatose states.
1. Introduction

Introduction

This was it.

This was the moment they had been waiting for, ever since they had first heard of Spectra. The moment they had been anticipating since G-Force first went into action three years before.

The moment they had been furiously preparing for over the last thirty days.

G-Force was about to end the war… one way, or the other.

It had all begun just over a month ago, when Federation Intelligence had received some disturbing news from one of its agents. Apparently The Luminous One, frustrated with Spectra's lack of progress in obtaining resources from other worlds, had decided to change its approach. Zoltar had been ordered to follow a new 'scorched earth' strategy, and to that end Spectran scientists were on the verge of launching a weapon capable of destroying the atmosphere of any planet… including the Earth. Once the atmosphere was gone, the planet would become unlivable and billions of people would die, all so Spectra could then rape the remaining planetary husk for its underground resources.

Chief Anderson knew that if Zoltar managed to get his hands on this weapon, all hope would be lost. And so, with a heavy heart, he commanded G-Force to do the unthinkable.

They were ordered to assault Spectran Military Headquarters, find the weapon, and destroy it. Barring that, they were to destroy The Luminous One. They were to carry out their mission at _all_ costs.

Fortunately the Federation's agent had warned them in time. They had had a few weeks to prepare before the weapon was scheduled to be ready. The team had gone in for intensive training, implant re-programming, and intelligence briefings. 7-Zark-7 had worked round the clock (barely stopping for his customary ten second oil breaks… which actually only took ten seconds now) and had developed a new cloaking technology and autopilot mechanism for the Phoenix. At least they would be able to approach Spectra undetected and all five G-Force members could disembark, sending the ship into orbit to hopefully await their return. The Federation scientists had also improved the team's individual weapons, making their explosives and charges significantly more powerful.

So far, everything had gone according to plan. The team had managed to download a virus into the Spectran computer system, destroying the design schematics of the weapon. And now, the five G-Force members were concealed in the heart of the Spectran Empire, just outside of Zoltar's inner sanctum. Keyop and Tiny were wounded, but their injuries were nothing that prevented them from continuing on with their mission.

Mark concentrated on controlling his breathing. His body wanted to surge with adrenaline and burst forth, screaming a battle cry as he flew into combat with his enemies. But he used his implant to suppress those instincts. In the middle of the Planet Spectra, stealth was their best approach. They could hear Zoltar speaking.

"Oh, Luminous One!" he crowed, "Spectra's victory is at hand! The Atmospheric Destructor Weapon is nearly complete. Tomorrow we will finish the final tests and then…"

"Then you will _finally_ finish what we began so long ago…" sneered the alien entity. "We should have taken this approach years ago. Attempting to conquer other planets and preserve their peoples was obviously a grave error on _your_ part."

"Yes, my Leader." agreed Zoltar, "Why go to the trouble of ruling a planet when we can just eliminate it? I am eager to begin our final attack."

Jason's fists clenched around his cable gun and he gritted his teeth. To hear those… monsters… discussing cruelty on such a massive scale made his blood boil. Princess had tears rolling down her face, but she maintained her look of grim concentration. Keyop and Tiny remained focused, stoically ignoring their wounds.

Finally, Princess gave the go-ahead. Taking one last look at the readout on her hand-held scanner she nodded curtly.

The Federation's research had been able to determine some crucial facts about the alien entity known as The Luminous One. This included the ebb and flow of its powers based on the position of the Planet Spectra relative to its suns. Apparently the radiation from the suns affected the alien's abilities.

Princess had been monitoring Spectra's suns ever since their arrival, and _now_ was the time when The Luminous One's powers were weakest.

"All clear, Commander." Princess looked Mark directly in the eye, knowing that it might be the last time she ever did so.

The Eagle acknowledged the Swan with a grim smile. "Then let's execute our plan."

He nodded to each team member in turn, connecting with everyone. Then he took a deep breath, and slipped into the room.

The Commander saw a full platoon of goons around the room. Intent on the conversation of their leaders, they never noticed the entrance of their greatest foes. Stealthily, Mark threw his Birdrang around the room, knocking out four guards. It was only the thumps as their bodies hit the floor that alerted their comrades. Immediately three more guards were struck by feather shurikens to the throat, as another three fell victim to a yo-yo strike. Keyop and Tiny engaged the remaining six guards.

Unfortunately the noise of combat alerted Zoltar to the presence of the G-Force team.

"G-Force! Here? On Spectra? You fools! You shall never leave this planet alive!"

Reacting in his usual cowardly fashion, Zoltar slammed his hand on a control panel, causing a force field to move slowly across the room. It would effectively cut Zoltar and The Luminous One off from the fighting.

_If_ it worked as intended. Mark, Jason and Princess immediately dashed toward Zoltar, making it past the force field before it finished closing. They could see Keyop and Tiny finishing off the remaining guards as they were separated from their comrades.

"You foolish mortals!" admonished the Luminous One, "You shall never escape! All you have done is to seal your own doom."

"Somehow, I just don't consider a Great Blue Chicken to be even vaguely threatening." Jason quipped to his friends. Mark and Princess couldn't help grinning.

"I think the Condor is right." Mark said, "This is all just talk. We'll see what you are capable of without your legions of goons."

He didn't notice the subtle changes that the bird-like alien's appearance was undergoing, but Princess shouted a warning.

"Mark, look out!" she screamed.

But it was too late. The Eagle tried to dodge the light beam that the Luminous One emitted from his eyes, but was unable to do so. Crying out in pain, he clutched his helmet with both hands as Jason and Princess ran to help.

Zoltar cowered behind his leader, gleefully shouting insults at his enemies.

"Your unbelievable arrogance shall be your downfall!" the Spectran Leader cried. "You will never be able to defeat The Luminous One!"

Another beam struck at Jason, and he too fell screaming to the floor, grabbing at his helmet, his face contorted in pain.

Princess shuddered to think of what could cause the Condor to feel that much agony. Realizing that she had nothing left to lose, she looked frantically around the room. Her analytical mind noted that the control panel behind which Zoltar was hiding was of a different style and construction from the rest of the room. Taking a chance, she threw her yo-yo toward the panel, setting off the charge just as a third beam of light hit her.

The Swan screamed in agony, but it lasted only until the panel exploded.

Zoltar, his instincts for self-preservation as sharply honed as ever, managed to throw himself clear of the blast just in time. The Luminous One, being unable to move, was not so lucky. The alien's body, such as it was, shimmered and disintegrated into a million pieces before dissipating into the air.

"No! My Lord! Do not leave me…." wailed Zoltar, reaching out to the vacant screen where his master had been, only seconds before.

The entire military complex went dark as the power died, only to be replaced seconds later by dim emergency lighting. The force field vanished.

There were sounds of chaos and confusion as the guards in the complex evacuated their headquarters. Tiny and Keyop grabbed Zoltar as he tried to exit the room.

"Owl to Federation Forces!" Tiny said into his communicator. "We have captured Zoltar. The Luminous One has been defeated. Strike now!" It wasn't long before the sounds of gunfire echoed through the building as Federation troops attacked the base.

Meanwhile, Keyop ran to his fallen friends. They were all unconscious, although they seemed to be alive. Hopefully they could hold on until help arrived.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Princess blinked slowly. Where was she?

The room was brightly lit, but there were no windows. All illumination was being provided by overhead lights that reflected off of sterile, white walls. She recognized her location. She was in the Medical Center at Galaxy Security Headquarters on Earth. This hospital was only for high security patients, and was located underground. All G-Force team members received their medical care at this facility.

Focusing on a nearby figure, Princess moaned slightly.

"Keyop…"

"Brrrt… Princess!" Keyop grinned, "Glad to see you!"

Tiny stood up behind the Swallow and added his own greetings.

"It's great to see you awake again, Princess!" he smiled.

"How… how long have I been out?" Princess asked.

"A few days." responded a third voice. Princess turned her head slightly to see Chief Anderson walking up to her bed.

"We weren't sure when you were going to regain consciousness." he said. "I'm glad to see that you have returned to us so quickly."

"What happened?" Princess asked, looking at her friends.

"After our troops took over Spectran Military Headquarters, we found you all. We brought you back to Earth as quickly as possible, but you, Mark and Jason were in comatose states. Based on our own analysis, as well as the descriptions of Tiny and Keyop, you were attacked mentally by The Luminous One. The beams that affected you all appear to be similar to those emitted by the mecha peacocks we found in India last year."

"The… Brain Warp Device…" mused Princess.

"Yes." nodded Anderson approvingly, "It appears that those devices were based on this particular power of The Luminous One's. We believe that almost everyone who has ever been exposed to these waves has either gone insane, or died. The only exception appears to be Zoltar, who had a special connection with The Luminous One that we don't fully understand. And now, you."

It took Princess a moment for the implication of his words to sink in.

"You mean…. Mark… and Jason… didn't make it?" she asked in a choked voice.

"Brrt… they're alive!" Keyop answered slowly, "But… doot… not… awake."

"They have not regained consciousness." confirmed the Chief. "They were exposed much longer than you were, and we strongly suspect that the damage may be permanent."

Princess' face went white. "But… I…"

"You were only subjected to the beam for a fraction of a second." the Chief explained. "Mark and Jason were affected much more. From the time the three of you were brought here, you were the only one showing signs of brain activity. They show all of the signs of being in a long-term vegetative state."

Tiny's eyes glistened. "They… they're gone, Princess." he said softly. "Just bodies, sustained by machines. It's like their brains aren't even there."

"We were able to get readings from your implant." continued the Chief, "which confirmed your mental activity. We had strong hopes that you would eventually wake up."

"But… Mark and Jason's implants…" Princess whispered.

"We cannot make contact with them." said the Chief. "We suspect that they have been de-activated."

Keyop hung his head. Tears slipped down his cheeks. Her weakened state forgotten, Princess reached her arms out to him, and then dropped them as she was exhausted by the effort.

"Are they here?" she asked.

"They're in the next room." Tiny said.

"And… they're still… alive?"

"If you can call it that." Chief Anderson said quietly.

"I want to see them." Princess said grimly.

"You will." assured the Chief, "But not until you've regained your own strength."

"No… I want to see them… now…" protested Princess. But her body was still weak, and overly susceptible to the light sedative the nurse was putting into her IV. As she fell into a light slumber she heard the Chief speaking to her.

"Soon, Princess."

88888

The next two days were torture for Princess. She was recovering, but the nurses and doctors would not let her out of her room to see Mark and Jason. She had to see for herself. She couldn't accept that they were brain dead. _She_ had regained consciousness, and she had to believe that they could too.

Keyop and Tiny spent a great deal of time with her, but they did not seem to share her optimism regarding Mark and Jason.

"Brrt… Mark… Jason… not… there…" said Keyop sadly.

"Don't get your hopes up, Prin." said Tiny. "I don't think they're ever going to recover."

But Princess _did_ have her hopes up. Tiny and Keyop hadn't been affected by The Luminous One's attack. But _she_ had. And deep down, she knew that her friends were still alive. If only she could reach them.

But her resolve to believe that was possible was severely tested when she finally saw Mark and Jason the following day. They lay motionless in their beds, eyes closed, their skin pale, their breathing so quiet and slow that it was almost as if they weren't taking in air at all. When she touched their hands, their skin was cold and clammy, and there was no response at all. The nearby computers were monitoring their implants, but there was no sign of activity.

But she couldn't believe that this was the end for Mark and Jason. Somehow, she knew that they were not destined to die a clinical death on a distant planet. _She_ had recovered. And she would help Mark and Jason recover as well.

88888

Tiny, Keyop and the Chief just shook their heads and sighed when she expressed these views. Yet she persisted in them.

Princess learned that with the death of The Luminous One, Spectra had surrendered to the Federation. Zoltar had been captured by Tiny and Keyop, and was being held by Galaxy Security, only a few levels below the Medical Center where she now resided. The G-Force team had been put on hiatus. The war was over.

But at what cost? The Earth had lost two great men, and she, Tiny and Keyop had lost two brothers.

Princess quickly recovered to full strength, but she did not leave the hospital.

The day she was officially 'released', Princess was sitting in Mark and Jason's room. They looked so cold, so distant, that she had to keep reminding herself that they were still alive.

But they _were_ alive. She_ had_ to believe that. She couldn't give up hope. What would her world be like without her two dearest friends?

She forced herself to hold their cold, clammy hands for hours, willing some life to return, desperately trying to reach out to them.

But they remained as they had been ever since returning from Spectra.

An unexpected sound made her jump. Turning around, Princess saw Keyop and Tiny entering the room.

"Brrrt… brought your things." Keyop said. "Doot doot doot… Jill wanted to know… brrt… when you would come back."

"Thanks, Keyop!" Princess said gratefully, taking the small bag from his arms. "I appreciate it!" She hugged the youth and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Normally, this was enough to make Keyop squirm and protest that he wasn't a kid anymore, but instead he just looked at her quietly.

"So, uh… how long do you plan on staying here, Princess?" asked Tiny, nervously. "Now that you've been released you could go home." Princess noticed that the Owl studiously avoided looking at Mark and Jason. It was almost as if… their presence made him… uncomfortable.

Princess looked him straight in the eye.

"As long as it takes, Tiny." she said quietly. "You said I could go home. But where is home? For the past ten years, home has been wherever all of us are. _All _of us. Right now two members of my family are _here_. So _this_ is home."

"Brrt… home with me!" cried Keyop. "Need you, Princess!"

Princess laughed softly and caressed her little brother's face.

"Not as much as Mark and Jason need me, Keyop. Besides, aren't you the one who is always telling me how grown-up you are? How you don't need a sister watching over your shoulder anymore?"

Keyop's face turned grim.

"Doot… can't stay here, Princess… not… good for you!"

Princess smiled knowingly.

"I understand, Keyop." she replied, "It bothers you to see Mark and Jason like this." she swept her arm around to indicate their fallen teammates. "You think of them as invincible, and this reminds you that _they_… and _you_… are all too human."

"Yeah…" Keyop acknowledged, staring at the floor, "It's… creepy…"

"I don't blame him, Princess." said Tiny. "It creeps me out too. I mean, they're dead, but their bodies are still…"

"They are _not_ dead!" cried Princess vehemently. "How _dare_ you? How dare you _presume_ that just because they can't communicate with us that they're gone? Is that what you thought when _I_ was unconscious?"

Tiny's face turned a deep shade of red.

"N-n-n-no…." he stammered, "We knew you were alive, Princess! You had positive brain wave readings. The Chief was able to make contact with your implant. We knew you were still _there_…"

"Well, I know that Mark and Jason are still here!" responded Princess hotly. "And _I'm _not giving up on them!" Princess folded her arms and gave Tiny an angry stare.

"Brrt… where will you stay?" Keyop asked, desperately trying to break the tension.

"I talked to the Chief." Princess answered, her eyes still glaring at Tiny, "He's letting me stay in my room next door."

"I… I can watch out for Keyop." Tiny offered. Princess knew it was the Owl's way of apologizing. She relaxed a little and nodded at him.

"Thanks, Tiny." she said. "That will be a big weight off of my mind."

The conversation turned to other, more mundane things, but Princess noticed that Keyop and Tiny still studiously avoided looking in Mark and Jason's direction, not wanting to see their bodies when it was assumed that their teammates were gone.

She sighed to herself. They didn't understand. If she had made it, then so could Mark and Jason. They were so much stronger, and more determined than she. They _had_ to fight their way back.

And she would do everything she could to help them.

88888

Although officially she was no longer the Swan, Princess continued to act in that capacity. She resolved to support her teammates for as long as they needed her.

Princess spent her days, and nights, in the hospital, most of it in Mark and Jason's room. She was shooed out by the nurses each night, but was there to greet them in the morning as well. Princess wanted to be there when Mark and Jason awoke.

Keyop, Tiny and the Chief had all been there for her when she had regained consciousness, but she quickly realized that they were not likely to be there for Mark and Jason. They had all given up hope. But Princess did not give up. She spent all of her waking hours in Mark and Jason's room.

The nurses and doctors got used to her presence. They brought her meals, which she gratefully accepted, and in turn she tried to help them as much as she could. Since Mark and Jason were not capable of doing anything for themselves, Princess quickly learned what kind of care they needed. Within a month, it was Princess who was meeting most of their day-to-day needs. She checked their IV drips, she kept their bedding fresh, and she kept them comfortable. She took over the task of shaving them every day, and brushing their teeth and hair. To her initial embarrassment, she was also assigned the task of bathing the two men, but she quickly got over her shyness. There was nothing remotely sexual about sponge-bathing a comatose person. Once she was able to do this to the nurses' satisfaction she was also taught how to replace their catheters when necessary.

Princess effectively became Mark and Jason's full-time caregiver. Knowing that such a competent person was on hand, the doctors and nurses took to checking in only once or twice a day. They knew that if there were any change, Princess would alert them.

But there was no change. Day, after day, the two men lay motionless on their beds, looking more dead than alive.

About ten weeks after Princess had been 'released', she received a visit from Chief Anderson. As he entered he saw Princess bending over Mark's hand, trimming his nails.

"Chief!" said Princess, smiling in surprise, "I haven't seen you in such a long time! And here I thought that with the war over Galaxy Security might actually be giving you a break now and then!"

Anderson did not return her smile. His look was grim.

"Actually, Princess, I had been hoping that _you_ would come to see _me_." he said. "I had thought that by now…"

"That by now I would have given up on Mark and Jason?" Princess finished for him. "Well, I haven't. And I'm not going to. I'll be here as long as they need me."

"And what about _your_ needs?" asked the only real father she had ever known. "You need to have a life, Princess! You need sunlight, and fresh air, and happiness… You shouldn't be shut away with two coma patients twenty-four hours a day."

"I understand that you are only looking out for me," Princess said slowly, "and I agree, I need to have a life too. But what kind of life would that be without Mark and Jason? They were always there for me when _I_ needed help. And now I'm going to be here for _them_."

"Princess," continued the Chief, as if he hadn't heard her, "Mark and Jason have been tested on the Glasgow Coma Scale. They have scores of 3. E1-V1-M1… that's as severe a brain damage rating as we have. A normal person has a score of 15. Anything below 8 is considered to be potentially permanent. And Mark and Jason score 3s. The chances that they will recover are so slim as to be nearly impossible."

Princess shook her head. "I'm not giving in to your facts and figures, Chief." she stated vehemently. "I suffered the same thing they did. I came back. I _know_ that they can too. They just need more time."

"I could force you to leave." the Chief said. "I could order you gone from here, revoke your right to stay in the Medical Center."

"You wouldn't do that." said Princess, calling his bluff. "I'm earning my keep. I'm taking a lot of work off of the shoulders of the nurses. I'm not exactly a burden around here."

The Chief's shoulders sagged.

"You're right, of course." he said, defeated, "But still, I wish…"

"I'm staying right here, Chief." Princess said firmly.

"If you ever change your mind…."

"I won't." By the resolved look on her face, Anderson knew that she wouldn't.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Where was he?

It was dark. Why couldn't he see anything?

Gradually, he discovered that his eyes were closed. His mind was so groggy and fuzzy that even that realization seemed to take hours. It took even longer to decide to open them.

But when he tried to get his eyelids to move, they did not respond. What was going on?

Mentally gritting his teeth, he gathered his strength and slowly released the pressure into his eyelids.

With a surprising snap, they popped open. Curiously, he tried to close them again, and found that he could not.

The light in the room was very bright, and reflexively he found himself mentally wincing from their effect on his eyes, but then he realized that their intensity caused him no pain.

He was looking at a white ceiling. As he got used to the light, he began to recognize his surroundings. He was in the Medical Center below Galaxy Security. On Earth.

He thought he could see someone in the right corner of his vision, but when he tried to turn to look, he found that he was unable to do so. Even his eyes would not move. They continued to stare at the ceiling despite repeated attempts to look elsewhere.

He tried to calm down. Getting frustrated wasn't going to help right now. He tried to assess the rest of his physical condition.

He was hearing the hum of various machines and fans. He heard small movements off to his right. So it appeared that his ears were working.

But nothing else appeared to be functioning. He couldn't feel any part of his body. He couldn't move any part of his body. He tried to speak, but no sound came out.

Desperately, he accessed his implant. Maybe he could trigger a command to get his cerebonics to heal his body. That's what they were there for, wasn't it?

But his implant said that nothing was wrong. It seemed to think that his body was perfectly healthy. There was some kind of communication misfire between his implant and his brain.

Inside, he raged in anger, but outside, there was no change.

What the hell had happened to him?

He tried to piece his memories together. Gradually, he recalled seeing Zoltar, and The Luminous One. That beam of light and then…

This.

He needed answers. But in his current state he didn't think he was about to get them.

A voice intruded on his thoughts. He recognized it… Princess?

"Well now that you both have fresh sheets, I thought I might play my guitar for you. Any requests?"

She moved into his vision, and he saw her turn toward him with a smile. Suddenly her face took on a shocked expression, and the guitar she had been holding fell from her hand.

He heard the dull thud it made as it hit the floor.

"Jason!" Princess cried, "Your eyes!"

His mind flooded with relief. She knew! She knew he was there!

"Jason, you opened your eyes!" An ecstatic smile lit up her features.

It was the most beautiful sight Jason had ever seen.

Almost immediately he heard a door bang open, and suddenly two unfamiliar faces were peering at him.

"What's the big emergency, Princess?" one of them asked.

"His eyes! They're open, Dr. Myers!" Princess' voice exclaimed, "He's awake! He opened his eyes!"

The man who was apparently Dr. Myers merely grunted. He performed an examination, asking Jason to shut his eyes, shining light into them, lightly slapping Jason's cheek. He closed Jason's eyes, then opened them again.

The nurse at his side took detailed notes.

At last Dr. Myers stood up.

"I don't see any change in the patient." he said to Princess.

"What?" Princess cried, "But his eyes… how do you explain that?'

The doctor's voice took on a condescending tone, as if he were speaking to a small child.

"Sometimes muscles react involuntarily to certain stimuli. It happens occasionally with coma patients. The Condor is still scoring a 3 on the Glasgow Coma scale."

"No… he's awake!" Princess shook her head vehemently. "I don't care about your damn scale! He's awake!"

"Not by my tests." said the doctor. "And his implant still isn't showing any signs of activity. Neither is his brain."

What? That couldn't be right. He was thinking right now, wasn't he? And wasn't he hearing and understanding this conversation? He could see Princess and Dr. Myers arguing next to him (albeit only barely through his peripheral vision).

His implant… it wasn't giving _him_ the right information either. It was still telling him that his body was fine, even though he couldn't move or feel anything.

He turned his attention back to the doctor just in time to hear him exiting the room, leaving a steaming Princess to mutter curse words at his back.

Wow. He had had no idea that Princess had ever heard some of those phrases, much less understood what they meant.

Wait a minute… his view was changing. He realized that the bed was moving and raising his body to a sitting position. He could see much more of the room now. Princess put her hands on his face, gently, and turned it slightly to the right so that he could see more of his surroundings.

If he could have, Jason would have gasped. On the bed to his right lay Mark. He looked pale and still… lifeless… his eyes were closed and there was no movement. Did he, Jason, look like that too?

Princess sat between his bed and Mark's, and took Jason's hand. He wished that he could feel her touch.

"I'm sorry, Jason…" she said, tears streaming down her face, "I'm sorry I wasn't convincing enough. But I _know_ you're there, and I know that you can hear me. I won't give up on you!"

"I realize that this must be incredibly confusing, so let me explain everything to you, as it was explained to me."

Princess went on to tell him the most incredible story. The war was over. The Luminous One was dead. Zoltar was a prisoner of Galaxy Security. G-Force was on hiatus. He had been unconscious for nearly 3 months. Mark was still unconscious. The light beam that The Luminous One had attacked him with had hit Princess as well, although only for a tiny fraction of a second. She had been at his bedside, and Mark's, for 10 weeks, taking care of them.

And not until he opened his eyes had either of them given any indication that they would ever come out of these comas.

What hurt the most was discovering that Tiny, Keyop and Chief Anderson were not there. Princess didn't mention them, but her silence about their comrades told him volumes. He just thanked whatever divine entity there was for Princess. She appeared to be the only one who recognized that he was there... even if he couldn't respond to any outside influences.

Princess continued talking to him. Her soft voice was soothing, and Jason appreciated being updated on what was happening. He wished he could ask her questions, but of course that was impossible.

Or was it? She was sitting very close to him. Their implants were only a couple of feet away. Maybe his implant could connect with hers!

He tried out his theory. He attempted to activate his implant and reach out to Princess'. But it was like grasping at empty air. There was nothing there for him to make contact with.

He was feeling very frustrated when the door opened and Chief Anderson entered the room.

Anderson's eyes flicked over Jason, noting his position, and his open eyes. Princess turned to look at him.

"Chief!" she exclaimed, in a relieved voice, "I'm so glad you here! That pigheaded Dr. Myers wouldn't believe me. But it's true! Jason opened his eyes. He's awake!"

"I can see that his eyes are open." said Anderson dryly, "But that doesn't mean that he is conscious. Dr. Myers seems to think that it was some random involuntary muscle reaction."

"It wasn't! I _know_ it wasn't!" Princess cried, "Jason is there! He's awake, and he can probably hear us right now. Don't you want to say anything to him?"

Anderson put his hand gently on Princess' shoulder.

"I know this is hard for you, Princess," he began, "but I really think that you are grasping at straws. None of Jason's vital signs or brainwaves have changed. We still believe that his implant has been de-activated. There is no reason _at all_ to believe that he will ever come out of it. As far as we can tell, he's the same as Mark, still."

The same as Mark? Then he _had_ been like that… Jason mentally shuddered. He had to let them know that he was conscious. He hoped that Mark would regain consciousness as well.

But the worst part was that Chief Anderson didn't think he was awake either. He had barely looked at Jason, and was directing all of his words to Princess.

"I think the stress of this situation is getting to you, Princess." said the Chief. "Maybe you need to take some time off. Spend a few days back at Jill's, with Keyop and Tiny."

Princess shook her head.

"No." she answered firmly. "Jason needs me more than ever, now. I appear to be the only one who believes that he could be awake." The Swan looked accusingly at Anderson. "I'm _not_ going to abandon him Chief."

"As you wish, Princess." Anderson sighed. He turned and left the room, head bowed.

But apparently the Chief hadn't given up. A few hours later, Tiny and Keyop entered the room. Princess was playing her guitar when they arrived.

The Swan looked up at the latest visitors and sighed.

"So, are you guys here to help me make contact with Jason, or are you here because the Chief told you to convince me to leave?"

Keyop blushed and stared at the floor. Tiny muttered something incoherent. That was all the response Princess needed.

"Alright then, if that's the way you feel, you can both go. I don't need any more people accusing me of harboring false hope. I've been through enough of an emotional wringer today, thank you very much!" she said hotly, returning to her guitar.

"Aw, Prin, please don't be that way." Tiny said. "We love you! We just want to see you happy!"

"What would make me happy is to have _everyone_ trying to help Jason and Mark return to normal!" said Princess angrily, "Instead, you are all assuming that _I'm_ wrong, because I don't agree with you!"

"Brrt… but Princess… the doctors say…"

"I don't care what the doctors say!" cried Princess. "They're wrong! They don't know what's going on inside someone's head! They may have created the implants, but they don't understand _us_, or who we are as human beings. They don't truly understand how our brains co-exist with the implants. As far as I'm concerned…"

"Yeah, we know." Tiny interrupted her, "But Princess, Keyop and I have implants too. And we don't think that they're going to recover either."

"Well, then, that just goes to show what kind of a friend you are!" sobbed Princess. Her shoulders began to heave.

Keyop gave Tiny a sad look, then put his arms around his big sister.

"Brrt… come home, Princess." he said, "We love you!"

But the Swan shook her head.

"I can't, Keyop." she said, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I can't…"

Jason's mind was awash with conflicting emotions. He was furious with Tiny and Keyop for giving up on him so easily, but then… he looked at Mark again… wouldn't _he_ have done the same if their positions had been reversed? Of all of them, Jason had always been the most willing to accept a loss, and then move on with his mission anyway. He knew that if their positions were reversed, he might very well be thinking the same thing as Tiny was.

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As the days and weeks passed, Jason came to appreciate Princess more and more. He couldn't believe the amount of time, effort, and love that she gave to both him and Mark. At first, he was surprised to see her brushing his teeth, or rolling him over so she could change his sheets. He was especially shocked to have her bathe him, but he gradually came to understand that _someone_ had to do these things. If he couldn't, he was glad that Princess was the one to do so. Better her than some of those gorilla-like nurses they had around here.

Jason had never spent so much time with Princess before. Usually if he was with her they were training, or on a mission, or all off-duty as a group. He had never realized what a wicked sense of humor she had, or what incredible patience.

Nor had he ever fully appreciated her _female_ attributes. Since they spent most of their time alone together (if you didn't count Mark) he whiled away many hours just staring at her. Since she no longer had to wear those silly striped pants, she had taken to dressing herself in skirts and blouses. He liked the confident, feminine look she had, not to mention the way her clothes clung to her curves. When she smiled at him and her eyes sparkled, he longed to be able to smile back, and let her know how much he enjoyed her company.

But so far, he wasn't able to do that.

One afternoon, a couple of weeks after Jason had regained consciousness, Princess entered the room holding a cupcake and a strange package.

"Happy Birthday, Mark!" she said cheerily.

Mark's birthday? Jason was surprised that she would even remember. But he guessed he shouldn't be. Princess had always been the one who had reminded _him_ about these things. Although, it seemed a little strange to celebrate the birthday of a man who wasn't even conscious.

"Come on, Jason!" Princess smiled. "Would you like to wish Mark a Happy Birthday?"

When there was no response, the Swan winked at him.

"That's all right. I know how you hate this kind of mushy stuff, Jason."

She put down the cupcake and whipped a candle and a match out of her pocket.

"And now we can have a celebration." Princess grinned. "I'm sorry it isn't a proper cake, but… well, let's be honest… you guys are going to make me eat the whole thing and I'm not sure how much of a pig I want to make of myself."

She lit the candle and began to sing.

"Happy Birthday to you…."

Jason's thoughts drifted back to Mark's last birthday, when they had all thrown their Commander a 'surprise' party at Jill's. Mark had obviously figured out the 'surprise' in advance, but had been pleased anyway. They were all so close, like a family, and Mark had been happy just to be among his loved ones.

And now, most of his loved ones had abandoned him, and Jason as well. It was only Princess who remained.

Princess had finished singing. She gave the birthday Eagle a kiss on the cheek and set the cupcake down.

"And what's a birthday without presents?" she declared. "Well, one present, anyway."

When had Princess had time to get a present? She was spending twelve hours a day with them in this pathetic excuse for a room.

"Thank goodness for online shopping!" Princess smiled at Jason.

"Here, Mark." she continued, "This is from Jason and me." Princess grinned at Jason again. "You can pay me back as soon as you get out of here, Condor."

Jason inwardly groaned. Princess' forced frivolity was starting to get to him. Normally he enjoyed her little jokes, but today… this whole 'birthday party' was somewhat depressing.

Princess took something out of the package and placed it on Mark's chest.

"It's a new flight bag." she explained. "I know that your old one is falling apart. You can use it as soon as the doctors give you clearance to fly again…"

Princess' voice trailed off as tears began to roll down her cheeks.

Jason felt terrible for thinking badly of Princess' 'party'. He realized that she was desperately trying to hold herself together, today of all days. He wished that he could let her know how much her efforts were appreciated, but, as always, when he tried to speak or move his body did not respond.

The door opened to let in Chief Anderson, Tiny and Keyop. Princess quickly sat up straight and brushed at her eyes.

"Hello…. It's good to see you all." she said, her voice betraying her emotions.

"I thought…" Anderson began, "I thought that I should see Mark today."

"Yeah…" Tiny added, "It just didn't seem right to ignore his birthday."

"Brrt… even if he is…" Keyop stopped abruptly upon receiving a dark look from the Owl.

"I can see that you remembered the event as well." said the Chief, glancing at the cupcake.

"Yes… well… Jason and I were having a party for Mark." Princess said quietly.

"A party?" exclaimed Tiny, "Isn't that kind of…"

This time, it was a glare from the Chief that silenced the Owl.

"Most importantly, Princess." Anderson sad, "We wanted to check up on _you_. We knew that this might be a tough day for you."

Jason had to hand it to the Chief. He knew Princess pretty well. And Jason was grateful that his friends had shown up to keep her company.

His friends… but they weren't even looking at him. In fact, they weren't even looking at Mark, although they were ostensibly visiting to see him. They were looking only at Princess.

Keyop walked over to his big sister and gave her a hug. As he did, he looked up and found himself meeting the Condor's icy stare. Jason couldn't actually move his eyes, but his mind screamed out to Keyop, asking him to understand.

The Swallow turned away guiltily, and focused on Princess.

"Doot… miss you, Princess." he said. "Want you… home… with me… and Tiny."

"You know I can't do that, Keyop." Princess said softly. "Mark and Jason need me, and I'm going to stay here as long as they do."

Keyop nodded slowly.

"Brrt… I know… but… had to… try."

Princess smiled gratefully.

The conversation turned to more everyday matters. Keyop was doing well at school, Tiny was working at Jill's. The Chief finally had time to get eight hours of sleep every night…

And then something caught Jason's attention.

"So… how are things going with Zoltar?" Tiny asked.

Anderson frowned and rubbed at his forehead.

"Lately, he has become very… reluctant… to talk to us. To anyone. At first he seemed to be grateful that he was alive, and gave us a lot of useful information. But now…"

"He's sad?" asked Keyop.

"I think 'lonely' fits the bill a bit more." the Chief replied. "I suspect he's come to realize that the rest of his life won't be much of a life, and he's regretting surrendering to us."

"At least he _has_ his life." said Princess bitterly, "He can walk, and talk, and communicate. Mark and Jason don't have those 'luxuries'."

Everyone stared at her.

"You're right, Princess." said Tiny thoughtfully. "After all that he's done, spending the rest of his life in a Galaxy Security cell doesn't seem like such a big price to pay."

After that, the conversation lagged, and it wasn't long before everyone left.

Zoltar… Jason hadn't thought about him in a long time. The Condor resolved to get better, even if only to prove to that purple goon that he hadn't been defeated.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

One morning, a couple of days later, Princess finished their daily hygiene routine and pulled out a book.

"I thought you might like something new today." she said. "I decided to read you one of my favorites: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."

Jason had never been much of a reader, and consequently many of the novels Princess read to him (and to Mark) were a new experience. He found himself hanging on her every word, and always sorry when she had to stop to relieve her voice, or eat a meal, or care for one of her two patients.

So it was quite irritating when he heard a voice interrupt her recitation.

"What is going on?" the voice screamed.

Princess did not acknowledge the voice. She kept on reading.

"Where the hell am I? Why can't I see anything?" the voice cried.

Suddenly Jason realized that he recognized the voice. It was Mark.

"Mark!" he said in his mind, "It's Jason! I'm here!"

Mark's voice continued asking questions. He had not heard Jason's response.

This was definitely not something Jason had expected. How could he be hearing Mark's thoughts? He looked over at Mark's body as much as he could. There was no apparent change. But he knew from personal experience that didn't mean anything.

So how was Mark talking to him? Jason concentrated on the voice in his mind.

He realized that he was hearing Mark's voice _through his implant_. Mark had always had more cerebonic abilities, and had been better able to use his implant, than any of the other G-Force members. Perhaps he was accessing it unconsciously in his time of need.

Jason accessed his own implant and tried to use it to reach Mark.

"Mark…" he said, "Can you hear me? It's Jason."

Princess' voice continued reading, unaware of the significant events occurring right under her nose.

"Jason!" came a relieved response. "I'm so glad to hear a friendly voice! Where are you?"

"About four feet away from you." Jason answered wryly. "Let me guess… you can't see anything and you are only hearing dim murmurs?"

"How did you know?" asked Mark.

Jason laughed. "The same thing happened to me. Only _I_ woke up two months ago." he replied smugly.

"Woke up?" Mark was confused. "What exactly is going on here, Jase?"

How exactly was he supposed to answer that question? Jason decided on the direct approach.

"You're in a coma." he said. "In fact, I am too. I'm as surprised to hear you, as you are to hear me. That funky light beam the Great Blue Chicken hit us with seems to have fried our brains. And possibly our implants too."

"Light beam…" Mark mused, "I think I remember that… I wasn't able to avoid the ray… but everything after that is blank."

"Well, I got hit after you, and then apparently Princess did as well. But not before she managed to use her yo-yo to serve up some Kentucky Fried Blue-Bird." Jason explained proudly.

"Apparently… don't you know?" Mark asked.

"Well, I pretty much blanked out after I was hit, but Princess explained it all to me later."

"Princess!" Mark cried in a concerned tone, "Is she in a coma too?"

"Nope. She's as conscious as they come. Can't you hear her?" 

"Princess?" Mark asked, "She's here?"

"Listen carefully." Jason advised.

The only thing he heard for a few moments was the sound of Princess' voice as she read, and then suddenly Mark laughed.

"Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy! She's reading!"

"You know it?" Jason asked, annoyed, "I've never heard it before and here I am, missing it because I'm chatting with you!"

Mark began to laugh. It was a good sound. Jason laughed too.

"Have you opened your eyes yet, Mark?" Jason asked.

"Huh? Opened my eyes? I can do that?"

"You won't know unless you try." said Jason, "Unless, of course, you prefer solid blackness. Plus, it will make Prin's day when she sees you awake."

"Okay… hold on…"

Jason stared at Mark's face as much as he could with his head angled to look at Princess. After a few minutes he thought he saw a flicker…

And then he knew. Mark had opened his eyes.

"Way to go!" Jason crowed. Now just wait until Prin…"

"Mark!" Princess cried. "You're awake!" She rushed over to his side, leaning her face over his.

Damn, that woman had a high degree of situational awareness. Jason guessed it was all part of the job being the Swan.

"Princess!" Mark cried, "It's so wonderful to see you!"

"Uh… Mark…" Jason interrupted.

"Princess! Princess! Can't you hear me? Princess!"

"Mark…" Jason tried again, "No. She can't hear you."

"Why the hell not?"

"Well if you hadn't noticed, your lips aren't moving. And your vocal chords aren't working."

"Damn… this coma thing sucks, doesn't it?"

Jason couldn't ever remember laughing so hard in his life. Except, of course, he wasn't _really_ laughing. Which was a good thing. He suspected that if he were really laughing his sides would have ached something fierce.

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Princess was just as excited to see Mark's open eyes as she had been to see Jason's. She called the doctor in, but this time she had obviously steeled herself for his response.

The analysis was the same. Officially, there was no change in Mark's condition.

Oddly enough, Jason didn't care. _He_ knew that Mark had awoken, and Princess knew. Who else really mattered?

This time the Chief didn't even bother to come, and neither did Tiny or Keyop. Jason guessed that they just wanted to spare Princess the emotional pain of another confrontation. Ever since Mark's birthday they had all done their best to keep a respectful distance. Their minimal contacts with her had been polite, with no mention of Mark or Jason.

Princess treated Mark exactly as she had Jason. She sat him up, angled his head for a better view of the room, and held his hand, explaining to him what had been going on while he had been 'asleep'.

Just as she was finishing, Princess' dinner arrived, and she excused herself to eat. As she moved to the corner of the room, Jason heard Mark speak again in his mind.

"Man, you look like crap!"

Jason laughed again. "No better than you, I'm sure. Five months lying in bed will do that to you. Princess can only do so much."

"Princess? What does she have to do with it?" Mark asked.

"Look around you man!" Jason said, "Other than that idiot Dr. Myers and his gorilla-nurse, have you seen anyone else tending to us today? Princess does that. All of it. _She's _our nurse. Nurse Swan." That had a nice ring to it, actually.

"Nurse Swan…" Mark began to laugh. "Better not let her hear you say that!"

"I don't think I'm in any danger of letting that slip." said Jason.

"No… I guess not." Mark's voice was suddenly serious again. "So why doesn't the Chief get her some help?"

Now was the time for the truth. But Jason had a hard time dashing Mark's illusions.

"Mark… the Chief knows… but he doesn't _want_ to help Princess."

"Why not?"

"He's concerned about her."

"But if he's concerned about her…" Mark insisted.

"He thinks she's going crazy. The Chief, Tiny and Keyop are convinced that you and I are brain dead." explained Jason. "They can't understand why Prin stays here taking care of us. They want her to leave us to rot down here…"

"No….."

"Did you notice how they haven't put in an appearance today? They did when I woke up. But they barely looked at me. All they did was tell Prin how she was _imagining_ things… that I wasn't awake at all."

"And what did she say?" asked Mark.

"She refused to give up on us. She's been a real trouper, Mark. And as for me… I would have gone insane these past two months without having her talk to me. She's the only one who has treated me like a real person and not just a piece of furniture." said Jason.

"That sounds like Prin…"

"I don't know what I'd do without her." Jason finished.

"Princess is one of a kind." Mark agreed.

"Hey, cheer up, Commander!" Jason said, "You have it better than I did when I first woke up."

"How's that?" asked Mark.

"You have the benefit of my sparkling conversation."

If he could have, Mark would have thrown something at the Condor. Instead he just groaned.

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Mark quickly settled into the daily routine. Princess cared for her patients, and spent her remaining time talking to them, singing and playing guitar, or reading to them. Both the Eagle and the Condor found that they really enjoyed being read to, even when Princess made some surprising literary choices.

One day she was reading a book about the life of Marie Antoinette. While it was an interesting historical piece, Mark was surprised that Jason was paying so much attention. He had been expecting joking comments from his roommate, but there was only silence.

"Enjoying the book, Jase?" Mark asked.

"It's okay…" Jason replied, "but what's much more interesting is the view…"

"Your view?" asked Mark, confused. "It's the same as my view. You're looking at Princess."

"Ah, but to be specific, Princess' legs are angled toward _me_." answered Jason smugly. "And it's giving me an excellent vantage point to see up her skirt."

"Jason!" exclaimed Mark angrily, "How dare you look there! After all Prin has done for us you treat her like…"

"Hey, I'm just appreciating the view. I'm sure Prin would be flattered to know. She's got quite the figure."

Jason could almost hear Mark seething. He decided to press on.

"Besides which, Commander, it's not like _you_ never looked up her skirt when she was in Birdstyle…"

"Th-th-that…" Mark stammered, "That was different!"

"Yeah? How?"

"Well… I… I was making sure she wasn't injured!"

Jason burst out laughing in his mind. That was the lamest excuse he had ever heard, but at least it showed that the Eagle was human… not to mention a red-blooded male.

Jason had always assumed that Mark and Princess had had something going on. There were just a few too many looks, private meetings in Zark's control room at Center Neptune, and giggles into their communicators when they thought no one was looking. But apparently, whatever had been between them was just a harmless flirtation. Mark certainly didn't seem to be reacting to Princess in _that_ way, and she didn't seem to be paying him any special attention above and beyond what she gave to Jason. In fact, Jason had been surprised to see that Princess showed no favoritism at all. She went out of her way to make sure that both Mark and Jason got equal access to her time.

At the same time, Jason couldn't deny that he was appreciating the Swan as a _woman _more and more. It had begun with being grateful for her company and had now turned into a full-blown crush. Jason frankly enjoyed watching her hips sway as she walked about the room, or her closeness when she was talking to him.

He knew that his feelings might be the result of some Florence Nightingale Syndrome, but they were real enough to him. It wasn't like he had much else going on in his life. So, as usual, the Condor lived in the moment and enjoyed the little pleasures he had.

At the same time, he also felt guilty. Even if Mark wasn't saying anything, it was _possible_ that he harbored feelings for Princess too. And she had certainly seemed interested in the Eagle before… this change in their physical states. He wanted to ask Mark about it, but was also reluctant to create any hard feelings between them. Mark was, after all, the only person he could talk to right now.

When Princess finished reading, Jason impulsively decided to press the subject. The Swan walked over to a nearby counter and leaned over her laptop computer to check her email.

The Condor let out a long wolf whistle.

"Check out that ass!" he gloated. "Prime time… what a view!"

Mark made some choking sounds, but after a moment he spoke.

"You know, you're right, Jase. She _does_ have a nice ass. Now stop looking at it!"

"Why, Commander?" asked Jason innocently, "It's a free country, isn't it? Or perhaps I'm infringing on your _private_ domain?"

"Not at all…" Mark replied in a strained voice. "Princess is hardly _my_ domain. I just don't think she would appreciate you ogling her that way."

"Why not, Mark?"

"Because she's not just some fluff toy for your…"

"No… that's not what I meant." Jason interrupted, "And you know it."

Mark sighed.

"Nothing ever happened between us, okay?" he huffed. "At one time I was interested, but the Chief canned the idea."

"Wait a minute… you let the _Chief_ dictate your love life?" Jason asked incredulously. Mark was more of an idiot than he thought. An intelligent, sexy woman like Princess was hot for him and he let the _Chief_ hold him back?

"I am in charge of G-Force!" Mark justified his actions. "I can't be having relationships with people under my command. It could compromise a mission."

"That sounds like the Chief talking." Jason needled him.

"Well… he was right." Mark replied. "And I think it was the right decision. It still is. I'm not sure that Princess and I would ever have a relationship that would last long-term."

"Why not?" asked Jason curiously.

"She's… too impulsive. She likes to have fun, and sometimes she doesn't care about the consequences. There are times when she's willing to let the rest of the universe be damned if she really wants something. I don't think I could deal with that on a long-term basis."

It sounded just perfect to Jason.

"Huh…" he said, mulling over Mark's words. "So then, your objection to my _ogling_ isn't personal. It's just that you feel that Princess wouldn't approve?"

"Exactly." said Mark. He sounded relieved that the interrogation was over.

"Well then, next time you speak to Prin, why don't you ask her about it? If she tells you that it bothers her, then I'll stop."

"Very funny, Jase." Mark said sarcastically. But his voice had an amused undertone.

Princess had apparently finished her email check, and now she turned to her patients with a wicked gleam in her eye.

"I've been thinking…" she said, "You two are looking quite scraggly. I think that you both need haircuts!" She pulled out a pair of scissors, and a mirror.

Scissors. No. She _wasn't_ going to cut his hair. She couldn't. Irrationally Jason wondered if she had somehow just heard his conversation with Mark and was taking some kind of twisted revenge.

"She's not… really… going to cut our hair… is she, Mark?" Jason asked.

"Remember what I said about her being impulsive?" Mark replied, slightly smugly.

But even the Eagle gasped when Princess said, "Don't worry guys, I used to cut Keyop's hair all the time. This will be easy!"

Jason thought of Keyop's giant cowlick and juvenile hairstyle and inwardly winced.

Princess walked over to Jason and held up the mirror in front of his face.

"You first, Condor." she smiled. "You can see that you _really _need a trim."

Jason was amazed. She was right. After six months of inattention his hair was in desperate need of a cut. But was Princess the person to do it?

His reservations vanished when she put down the mirror and leaned over him. She didn't realize that as she reached around to examine the back of his head he had a perfect vantage point to check out her cleavage.

"Damn…." he breathed.

"What is it?" Mark asked.

"Just… enjoying the view…"

"I don't even want to know!" Mark cried.

Without realizing it, Jason began to breathe more slowly and deeply. As he did, he was enjoying himself more and more. Suddenly, he realized that he could _smell_ her.

Princess had a warm, sweet scent… like… vanilla…

He could smell her. Another one of his senses had returned. Jason whooped.

"What is it now?" Mark asked.

"I can smell her!" Jason cried.

"You pervert! I don't really want to know what kind of sick fantasies you… wait… did you say that you could _smell_ her?"

"Yeah… apparently I can smell!"

Mark couldn't resist.

"I'm sure you _do_ smell." he quipped, "After six months in bed you must be pretty ripe!"

Jason mentally smacked the Eagle across the back of his head, but somehow Mark wasn't bothered. His sense of smell had returned. Had anything else?

With determined slowness, he tried to move the different parts of his body. No response. He accessed his implant, and tried to call out to Princess.

No response.

It was a little depressing, but still, having another one of his senses return was _something_.

Princess finished his haircut.

"There! Now you look _much_ better!" she declared. She held up the mirror to Jason's face.

Hey… not bad. It wasn't incredibly neat, but then when had his hair ever been? It was still longish, but now trimmed to his shoulders, instead of down his back.

Princess put down the mirror and took Jason's hand in both of her own.

He felt it.

He _felt_ her touch. It wasn't so much a pressure, as a sense of warmth. But he _felt_ it.

He was just processing this discovery when Princess leaned toward his face.

"Not too bad, if I say so myself!" she said, smiling. "I hope you like it, Handsome." She placed a quick kiss on his cheek.

Jason felt that too. A whisper of warmth on his face.

He was so shocked that it didn't occur to him to say anything to Mark at first. He was sure that had he been able to he would have been grinning foolishly. He had _felt _Princess. Felt her touch… and her kiss.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

It was a few days later when Tiny came for a visit. Princess turned to greet him.

"Tiny! It's wonderful to see you!" she smiled, giving him a hug. "It's been too long… ever since Mark's birthday!"

The Owl blushed.

"It's good to see you too, Prin." he said.

Princess stepped back, holding Tiny's hands and looking at him.

"Tiny!" she exclaimed, "You look terrific! What have you been doing with yourself?"

Tiny blushed again.

"Well… uh… Jill got me on this diet…" he muttered. "And I've been working out some more."

Jason could see that it wasn't just talk. Tiny looked like he'd lost about thirty pounds, and his muscles were now more defined. In fact, he looked better than Jason did, right now. Six months in bed hadn't done much for him. Even with what was left of his cerebonics, his muscles had wasted away, giving him a somewhat gaunt look.

"And you got a haircut!" Princess said. It was true. Tiny's hair no longer resembled its usual rat's nest, but was now neatly trimmed.

"Yeah… Jill did it for me. She said…" Tiny paused. "She said that I should look nice if I was coming to see you."

Oh no…. Jason looked at the goofy grin on Tiny's face.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Mark?"

"It sure looks like it." growled Mark.

"He's moving in on Nurse Swan!" shouted Jason.

"Not if _I_ have anything to say about it." said Mark.

"Uh, Mark… you _don't_. Or rather… you _can't_."

"Stop reminding me!" the Eagle snapped.

Jason turned his attention back to Princess. She had bent down to get something from one of the cabinets.

"Is he staring at her ass?" Jason asked angrily.

Mark's answer was an annoyed grunt.

"I think we need to get better so we can knock some sense into Tiny!"

"I'm with you on that one." Mark replied.

Princess turned back to Tiny.

"Please return these books to Jill." she said, "Thank her for me, will you?"

"Yeah, I can do that." said Tiny, taking them.

"How have things been at Jill's?" Princess asked.

"Different…" Tiny replied thoughtfully. "It's been busier. People seem happier. Less stressed. Since the war ended, no one is worried about an unexpected attack from Spectra. It seems like that makes people more willing to go out… have a good time."

Tiny suddenly looked embarrassed to have said so much.

"At least… that's what I'm guessing it is…" he finished sheepishly.

"I suspect you're right, Tiny." Princess replied. "I never thought about what the war was doing to everyone's state of mind. _We_ were always on alert, ready to jump at any sign of trouble, but most people can't deal with that. It's probably really stressful to leave your home every day and wonder if you might not come back."

"That's what I was thinking!" Tiny said happily.

"That's very insightful, Tiny." Princess said. "I didn't know…" Now it was her turn to look embarrassed.

"Aw, that's okay, Prin." Tiny replied, putting an arm around her shoulder. "I know I don't come off as the most intellectual guy."

"But that's not to say that you aren't smart, Tiny." Princess said. "I think there's a lot more to you than meets the eye."

Jason had never seen such a big grin on the Owl's face. He wanted to smash his fist right into the middle of it.

"So where's Keyop?" Princess asked, Tiny's arm still around her shoulders.

"He's at school." Tiny replied, "I wanted to come see you alone… first…"

"First?" asked Princess, confused.

"Well…" Tiny continued, "I was wondering if you might like to come to dinner… with me… sometime…"

"Oh, Tiny!" said Princess, smiling warmly, "I'd love to go to dinner with you."

Mark and Jason gasped.

"When Mark and Jason have recovered."

The Owl's face fell.

"Well… actually…" he said, forging ahead, "I was hoping you might come over for Christmas dinner."

"Christmas?" asked Princess, "I hadn't really thought much about it."

"Well, it's only two weeks away." Tiny said, "And I _know_ Keyop would _really_ like it if you could be with us on Christmas Eve."

Princess looked torn. It was obvious that she missed Keyop. But after a moment she slowly shook her head.

"I'd _really_ like to, Tiny…" she said, "But if I leave, who will spend Christmas Eve with Mark and Jason?"

Tiny let the air out of his mouth in a frustrated sigh.

"Look, Prin, I've tried to be understanding about this." he said, "We all have. But it's been months. Months with no sign of life from either of… them."

"We have names, Fatboy!" yelled Jason, insulted.

"What, exactly, are you trying to say, Tiny?" asked Princess frostily. She moved away from Tiny, his arm falling off of her shoulders.

"You've got to let it go." Tiny continued, ignoring the cold look in the Swan's eyes. "It's time you realized that they're _not_ going to come out of it. They're dead, Princess. Maybe their bodies don't quite realize it, but their brains are gone. They're not coming back!"

Princess stared at Tiny, her mouth wide open. The look on her face was unreadable.

Apparently Tiny took this for a good sign, because he continued his tirade.

"And you… Prin… we've all been so worried about you… The way you've shut yourself off from the world down here… it's like you've entombed yourself. It's like…"

"It's like _what_, Tiny?" asked Princess, her words icy.

"It's like _you're _dead too." Tiny finished.

Princess stood very still for a moment, and then she slapped Tiny across the face. The smack echoed through the otherwise quiet room.

"Go." she growled.

"What?" asked Tiny, confused. He was still rubbing his cheek.

"Just… leave…" Princess said, through gritted teeth.

"But Prin, I'm just concerned about you!" Tiny protested. "All we want is…"

"I know what you want!" Princess cried. "You want for me to become a cold, unfeeling, jerk like you! You want me to abandon my friends… _your_ friends… because you're too narrow-minded to accept that I _might_ be right!"

"Get out!" she yelled.

Tiny took one last look at her face and bolted from the room.

"Whoo hoo! Way to go!" Jason crowed.

"No, Jase. Not good." Mark said.

"What the hell do you mean? She told him off! And good!"

"Yeah. And now, do you think he's ever coming back?" Mark asked. "He's right about one thing. She doesn't have much of a life down here. She needs to get out _sometimes_. She's terrific company for us, but we're not exactly the best company for her."

The truth of Mark's words stung like a slap in the face for Jason. He _was_ being selfish. He loved Princess, he wanted her close to him… but at what cost?

And the worst part was, it wasn't even his decision. He just had to stay still and let Princess' life play out before him.

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If she hadn't thought about it before, Princess thought about Christmas now. As if to prove to everyone that she was doing the right thing, she went all out decorating Mark and Jason's room. Lights were strung along the ceiling, evergreen boughs graced the foot of their beds, and Princess had even obtained a small tree that she set up in the corner.

And it didn't all go unnoticed. Chief Anderson and Keyop came to visit, but Princess turned them away as soon as they opened their mouths. She was obviously fed up with everyone telling her that she was wasting her time.

While Jason was relieved to see her committing to stay with them, he was also concerned by Mark's words. What would happen to Princess if they never recovered? Was it right that she should lose her life so that they could continue on in a pale shadow of theirs?

On Christmas Eve, Princess played holiday music on her guitar and sang to them. She sounded like she was having fun, but Jason could see the hurt in her eyes. She was missing the others.

Before she retired for the night, she reclined their beds to a flat position, as usual. Turning off the lights, she left the room.

A couple of hours later, Jason woke up. He thought he heard something… was someone in the room? His sense of touch was stronger now, and he thought he felt a bump on his bed.

A flash of fear went through him. Was someone there to kill him and Mark? Had Zoltar escaped? Was it a Spectran patriot who didn't want to take any chances on their recovery? He and Mark were utterly defenseless. If they were attacked…

Jason panicked.

Suddenly, someone was at his side. He was awash in fear.

"Jason… are you okay?" Princess' voice whispered in his ear.

Relief flooded his body. It was just Princess. But what was she doing in here at this time of night?

"Jason?" Princess asked again. "I thought… maybe… you were afraid…"

She did? He _had_ been afraid. In fact, he had been terrified. Had she sensed that?

"I know… it sounds silly… the Condor would _never_ be afraid. But somehow I just got this feeling…" Princess shook her head, as if to clear it.

"Don't worry, Jase." she whispered. "I'm here. I won't give up on you." She kissed his cheek, and then she was gone.

On her way out of the room, she brushed against something. It sounded… crinkly.

Then Jason realized what she had been doing… it was Christmas Eve! She had been trying to play Santa Claus.

Little did she know, she might just have brought him the best present of all.

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The next morning Princess came in and raised Mark and Jason to sitting positions. They were able to see three brightly wrapped presents next to their tiny tree.

"Merry Christmas!" the Swan said cheerily. "I guess you boys have been good, because Santa came!"

She picked up two identical packages and placed one on each of their laps.

"Let me help you…" with gentle hands, Princess unwrapped their gifts. They were pillows.

"These hospital pillows are pretty uncomfortable." she said. "I thought you might like some better ones." She placed the pillows behind their backs, removing the old ones.

They _were_ pretty comfortable. Certainly they were better than their old ones.

"Hey, these are terrific!" Mark exclaimed. "Prin made a great choice!"

"Yeah… she certainly knows what we need…" Jason mused.

He was still thinking about the previous night. It seemed that Princess had sensed his fear. But why? He tried contacting her, using his implant, but there was still no response.

Was it the intensity of emotion that he had felt? He had been afraid for his life, albeit only momentarily. Perhaps it had been the _strength_ of his feelings that had caused her to notice them. Regardless of the reason, if she could sense that, then maybe he would eventually be able to communicate with her. It was something he wanted more than anything else.

"Oh, man…" Mark said. "Don't cry, Prin…"

Huh? Jason pulled his mind back to the here and now.

Princess had unwrapped their other gift… a new ping-pong set for the Ready Room. Oh no… it was just like when she had gotten Mark that damn flight bag. All she could do was cry.

"Don't cry, Prin," Jason said, even though he knew she couldn't hear him. "We're here. We're _going_ to get better. That's a promise."

"Some crappy Christmas for Nurse Swan." Mark said. "No gifts, no one to talk to her, and everyone thinks she's lost it."

A wave of pity washed over Jason. He felt terrible for Princess. He desperately wanted to hold her in his arms and tell her that everything would be all right.

Suddenly, Princess' head snapped up and she looked right at Jason.

"I'll be okay, Jase." she said slowly. "Don't worry about me."

It seemed like Mark was about to say something, but he was interrupted by the door opening. Keyop stuck his head in.

"Brrt… Merry Christmas, Princess."

Princess looked at him.

"Merry Christmas, Keyop." she said softly.

An arm waving a white towel appeared behind Keyop's head. A few seconds later, Tiny stuck his face into the doorway.

"I'm here to apologize, Prin." he said. "Truce?"

"Yes…" Princess said, a relieved look on her face. "Come in, guys."

"Brrrt… we're sorry, Princess." Keyop said. "Know this… is important to you… doot… respect that…"

"Thanks, Keyop." Princess said, hugging him warmly. "That's a wonderful Christmas present."

"Brrt…. but not… only one!" Keyop grinned. He pulled out a sloppy package with her name on it.

"Oh, Keyop!" Princess cried. "How sweet of you!" She kissed him on the cheek.

"Awww…." Keyop blushed. "Was… nothing…"

"I have something for you too, Princess." said Tiny, awkwardly. He held out a small box. "I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't have any right to belittle your point of view."

"Thank you, Tiny." Princess said. "And I appreciate how difficult it is for you to admit that." She hugged the Owl, who blushed.

"Oh man… now we have to start worrying about_ this_ again!" Mark groaned.

"Don't worry… I don't think Prin's going anywhere with him." Jason growled.

While they contemplated ways to discourage the Owl, Princess was opening her gifts. Keyop had gotten her a new guitar strap, and Tiny had given her a beautiful necklace.

"Thanks, guys." she said, giving them each a kiss on the cheek, making them both blush. "I have something for you too! Wait right here!" Princess stood up and ran out of the room.

Tiny looked around awkwardly.

"Do… uh… do you think she bought it?" he asked Keyop.

"Brrt… hope so…" Keyop said. "Hate it… when Princess is mad."

"Yeah…" agreed Tiny, "It's a small price to pay to stay on good terms with her. She's got to give this up eventually."

"I _really_ feel like punching something right now!" Jason muttered.

"I have a few ideas…" Mark replied grimly.

Just then, Princess returned with two gifts. She handed one to each of her guests.

"Merry Christmas, guys!" she said. "I had been hoping that we could work this out, so I got these…"

"I'm glad too, Prin." said Tiny, smiling at her.

They ripped into their gifts. Keyop whooped when he saw the video games Princess had gotten him.

"Cool!" he cried. "Brrrt…. you never… bought games… before…"

"Well, I knew how much you liked them, and seeing the smile on your face now, I guess it was worth it." Princess said happily.

Tiny was holding up a blue sweater. It was casual in style, but well made.

"This looks great, Prin!" he exclaimed. He immediately put it on.

"Oh, I'm glad it fits!" Princess said. "I figured with that new physique of yours, you needed some new clothes."

Tiny looked utterly thrilled to hear Princess talking about his 'physique'.

"So, what have you been doing when you're not at Jill's?" Princess asked Tiny.

"Well… I've been spending some time at the airfield." Tiny said.

"Mark's airfield?" Princess asked, surprised.

"Yeah." Tiny confirmed. "It's a shame to let his plane just sit out there… I've been maintaining it, taking it out for a couple of test runs… just keeping it in running condition."

Mark was making incomprehensible sputtering sounds.

"That's so nice of you, Tiny!" Princess exclaimed. "I'm sure Mark is thrilled to know that his friend is taking such good care of his plane."

Jason was pretty sure that _thrilled_ was not the right word.

"How… dare… he…" Mark growled. "First he tries to move in on Nurse Swan, and now he's taking over my plane?"

"Well… maybe he thinks he's doing you a favor…" Jason replied. The moment the words came out of his mouth, he knew it was a lame thing to say.

"If he wants to do me a favor, he can take his damn hands off of my plane and my girl!" shouted Mark.

"_Your_ girl?" Jason asked. "I thought there wasn't anything going on between you and Princess."

"This is _not_ the time for semantics, Jason!" said Mark angrily.

"So what made you decide to take care of Mark's plane?" asked Princess.

"Well, I was patching up some holes in the roof of Jason's trailer when I realized that Mark's place might be in just as bad a shape…"

"Wait a minute, now he's in my trailer?" Jason exclaimed.

"Maybe he was just trying to do you a favor…" Mark said sarcastically.

"Brrrt… Tiny… fixed up trailer… real good…" Keyop said.

"You are such a good friend, Tiny." Princess said. "I know Jason and Mark appreciate what you're doing for them." She squeezed his arm gently.

Tiny grinned foolishly.

Jason could barely stand to watch this, but he didn't have much of a choice. He was forced to observe as Tiny flirted with Princess, made excuses to touch her, and tried to get her to touch him.

He nearly lost it when the Owl stared down her blouse when she wasn't looking. Of course, Jason was guilty of the same thing, but somehow that wasn't important right now.

"He's going to pay for that…" muttered Mark.

An irrational surge of jealousy took over Jason. More than anything he wanted to wipe that infatuated look off of Tiny's face.

Princess turned and looked at the Condor. She stared at him intently.

Had she felt that? Was she reading his emotions? This was the third time in less than twenty-four hours… He _had_ to be recovering… or at least… _connecting_ with Princess.

Either way, he was suddenly ecstatic. He felt like screaming with joy.

Princess was still staring at him, and her face suddenly lit up with an incredible smile. She nodded at him, and mouthed the word, 'Yes'.

Jason understood. She wasn't emotionally ready to get into things again with Tiny and Keyop by talking to him now. But she had felt him. She _knew_ he was there. For the moment, it was enough.

"What the hell was that?" Mark asked.

He had been so intent on Princess that he had forgotten that Mark was there.

"Princess… I think… I'm communicating with her, Mark!" Jason said.

"You are? How?" asked Mark excitedly.

"I'm not sure…" Jason began, "But when I feel a strong emotion she seems to sense it. Just now, I was livid when Tiny was staring down her shirt, and that's when she looked at me. Then I was thrilled when I realized that she had sensed my emotions, and she felt that too."

"Jason… that's incredible!" Mark cried. "If she can sense you're there… it must mean that you're recovering! And you can smell, and feel some things now… You're getting better!"

"It's just so damn slow!" Jason complained. "And what about you? Have you improved at all?"

"Not yet." Mark admitted, "But I took two months longer than you did to wake up. And I was affected by that light beam longer than you were."

"True…" Jason mused. "But I hate to see Princess isolated so much because of her faith in us. I wish I could speed this up, just to rub everyone's noses in it…"

"That sounds like the Jason I know!" Mark laughed.

"We'll figure it out… somehow…" Jason said, "For Prin's sake."


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

After Tiny and Keyop had left, Princess sat down next to Jason on his bed.

"What was that all about, Jason?" she asked him. "I've been getting strange feelings from you all day."

She leaned down and looked him directly in the eye.

"Are you trying to communicate with me, Jason?" she asked hopefully.

Jason put every ounce of mental energy he had into trying to contact her. But as he stared at her emerald eyes he got lost, examining their depths. He became distracted being close to her, and forgot what he was doing.

Princess sighed.

"Well, I definitely felt _something_ today…" she said. "We can try again later."

As she moved to get up, Princess noticed that she had accidentally pulled out Jason's blanket. She leaned over him to tuck it back in.

As she did so, her chest rested on Jason's. He felt the press of her breasts against him, and couldn't avoid a rush of arousal.

Princess turned her head and slowly looked at him.

Brushing aside the embarrassment that threatened to overwhelm him, Jason focused instead on his feelings for Princess. He let them rush through his mind as he looked at her face. She was still leaning over, and the angle was a bit awkward…

Suddenly, his vision shifted. He was briefly disoriented, and then Princess' face came into sharp focus.

It took him a second to realize what had just happened. He had moved his eyes.

Princess was staring at him with a look of incredulous joy on her face.

"Jase…" she whispered, "You _really_ are there…"

"What the hell is going on, Jason?" asked Mark impatiently. "What just happened?"

Jason ignored the Eagle. He was too focused on Nurse Swan. He wanted to touch her. He wanted to take her in his arms.

Hell, he wanted to make love to her.

Their faces were barely an inch apart. And then, he felt it.

She was reaching out to _him_. She was using _her_ implant to contact him.

Jason focused everything he had on Princess, and communicating with her through his implant.

"Jason?"

She hadn't spoken aloud. She was in his mind.

"Princess!" he cried.

And then it happened.

He wasn't sure how, but some way or another, he moved his head a fraction of an inch…

He was kissing her.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" yelled Mark.

The interruption broke his concentration. Princess was gone from his mind.

He fell back to his pillow, his eyes staring ahead, blankly.

"Jason!" cried Princess, using her voice this time. She put her hands on his face and moved it to look at her.

He couldn't respond. He was exhausted. He wasn't even sure exactly what had just happened, or why.

"Answer me!" Princess said desperately. "I heard you! In my head! I_ know_ you're there! Answer me, damnit!"

Anger washed over him. Why couldn't he shake this damn coma and get back control of his body?

"Well, I felt _that_!" said Princess, relieved. "Don't worry, Jason. I'll figure out what's going on…"

Automatically, she reached for the call button, but stopped herself.

"If I call Dr. Myers in here, he probably won't find anything…" she mused aloud. "Tiny and Keyop are starting to come around… I don't want to destroy that. But I _have_ to help you, Jason."

Princess stood up and started to pace back and forth across the room.

"I need to figure this out myself, so the doctors will know what to look for…" she muttered to herself. "But we've all researched everything we have on the Brian Warp Device, and it's gotten us nowhere. No one knows anything about The Luminous One's powers…"

Suddenly Princess' face lit up with a flash of inspiration. She turned to Jason.

"I have an idea, Jase." she said, excitedly. "I don't know if it will work, but I've got to try. I'll be gone for a while, but hopefully I'll be back soon." She ran from the room.

Jason stared at the place where Princess had just been. What was she going to do?

"_Now_ can you please tell me what the hell is going on?" asked Mark in an exasperated tone.

88888

Jason did his best to explain everything to Mark. It was somewhat embarrassing to have to explain _why_ Princess had tried to contact him, and Mark didn't make it any easier for him.

"You mean, she figured out that you were getting off on her touching you?" Mark demanded.

"Something like that…" Jason mumbled.

"And you _kissed_ her!" Mark accused.

"Not at first…" Jason explained. "First, I _looked_ at her."

"You looked at her?" asked Mark, suddenly confused.

"I mean… I moved my eyes to look at her."

Mark ignored the implications of that revelation, but jumped back to his previous line of questioning.

"And _then_ you kissed her."

"No… she got excited…"

"You wish!" Mark interrupted him.

"No, not in that way. Get your mind off of that damn kiss!" Jason rebuked his friend.

"It's hard to forget." said Mark in a cold voice.

"Look, she was excited to see my eyes move. Period. Okay? But because I did, she knew I was here. Awake. In my head." Jason said in frustration.

Mark didn't give any response, but Jason continued his explanation anyway.

"She contacted me. _In my mind_. She used her implant to talk to me."

"She _what_?" Mark asked incredulously.

"She talked to me. Telepathically. She said my name."

"And what did you do?" Mark asked, despite himself.

"I said her name."

"You did?" said Mark, surprised. "I didn't hear you say her name."

"You didn't?" asked Jason, equally surprised. "But I used my implant. You always hear me when I use my implant…"

"…to talk to _me_." Mark finished the thought for him. "But when you used your implant to talk to Princess, I wasn't part of the conversation."

"Aw, man, it wasn't like that!" Jason protested.

Mark sighed.

"I know." he said, sadly. "So _then_ what happened?"

"Well, I just… kissed her." Jason didn't know what else to say.

"And why did you stop?" asked Mark in a strained voice.

"Because you were yelling at me to ask what was going on, and it broke my concentration, okay?" Jason said irritably.

"Oh."

"Are you satisfied, now?" Jason huffed.

"Yes, actually." Mark said smugly. "I am."

88888

Princess took a long time to come back to the room. Jason and Mark were beginning to get worried, but despite themselves they fell asleep.

Jason awoke awhile later to the Swan's voice. Princess was whispering in his ear.

"I _think_ I know what's going on, Jason." she said. "It's the implants! And the link! We're linked!"

Jason didn't know what she was talking about, but he was relieved to have her back. She must have sensed that, because she squeezed his hand.

"It's okay, I'm back. But I have to hurry." she said in a rush.

What did she have to hurry with? And why?

"I need to do this. I don't think the doctors will believe me, especially… Well, anyway, we need to do this before they find out what I've done. I'll be right back."

A finger of fear went up Jason's spine. What had Princess done? Mark's words came back to haunt him.

'_There are times when she's willing to let the rest of the universe be damned if she really wants something.'_

Oh God… she had done something terrible… and all for him.

A few moments later, Princess returned, rolling some kind of equipment with her. She didn't turn on the lights in the room, and tried to be as quiet as possible.

It took Jason a little while to figure it out, but as she set up the machine he realized that it was one of the implant tuning devices they were all hooked up to whenever they had one of their checkups. It sent small electrical impulses into their brains and used them to transmit information to and from the implant.

No! If Princess was doing what he thought she was…

She was.

"500 milliamps should work…" Princess muttered to herself.

500 milliamps? That was enough to stop someone's heart!

"He said it was a frequency of 150 Hz…"

What was she doing?

"Need to trigger Gamma waves…"

Now Jason was _really_ confused.

"Okay… I think I have it set up. Now I have to wake up Mark." Princess turned to Mark and whispered into his ear.

Jason was worried. Those sounded like very high settings on the tuning device. Was she going to attach that to him?

No… Princess wouldn't take the chance of frying what was left of his brain. But that meant…

She was going to use it on herself.

"Time to move over, Condor!" Princess said. She shifted his body over on the bed, and laid herself down beside him.

Jason could feel her thigh, her hip, her side, her breast…. all pressed against him. The sensation momentarily distracted him from the reason she was there.

Princess noticed his reaction.

"Time for fun later, Jase." she said. "Right now, we have to get serious."

But she was smiling at him.

"First, I'll try to contact you, Jason. Then, I'll try to contact Mark. If I'm successful with you, then you can help me with Mark. Okay?"

He couldn't respond, but figured she was just going to go ahead anyway.

He was right.

"All right… here we go…" Princess said. She attached electrodes from the tuning device to the back of her head: closest to her implant. And then she turned the device on.

At first, all Jason could hear was Princess groaning… she was in pain! He didn't want to do this if she was going to be hurt! He reached out to her…

"There you are, Jason!" Princess said. She was in his mind.

"Thank God! Are you okay?" Jason asked.

"Yeah… I felt you reaching out to me… I can ignore the pain now… now that I'm here."

"I can't believe I'm finally talking to you… after all of these months…" Jason was emotional.

"Time for that later." said Princess. "We have to hurry. They might find out what I did at any moment."

"What did you do, Princess?" asked Jason in a concerned voice.

"Later." she brushed him off. "Now, Jason, I need you to let me access your implant."

"My implant?" Jason asked, surprised.

"Yes. Don't you trust me?" he could hear the joking tone in her voice.

"I trust you… but this whole thing worries me… what did you do?"

"Just give me the damn access already!"

Jason reluctantly let the subject drop. If Princess felt the need to hurry there was a reason for it. He accessed his implant, then stepped back and let her enter.

"Okay… I'm in… hold on…" Princess muttered.

It felt very strange to have Princess in his mind this way. She wasn't just talking to him in his head; in a way she now had command of his brain. He wasn't worried… exactly… but it was unnerving to surrender control this way.

He actually felt her moving around in there. It was as if her fingers were stretching into his brain and touching his mind. She reached around and it almost seemed like she pressed something… as if his implant had a hidden panel of which he had been unaware.

"Okay… I found it… let me activate the sequence…" she said.

Something clicked in his mind. He felt as if he had been living in a fog and his vision had suddenly been made clear.

"What did you do to me, Prin?" he asked, awed.

"I was able to access a reset function, yet maintain our link." Princess replied. "The link is the key… it's what is allowing your implant to continue functioning, diagnose itself, and return to normal. When it does that, your cerebonics take over and start healing you physically."

"How did you find all that out?"

"What do you think I've been doing at night?" Princess replied. "I've been researching all of this in the Galaxy Security database. And then tonight…" Her voice trailed off.

"Yes…" Jason prodded.

"I really should try to access Mark's implant too. I presume he's awake like you are?" Princess asked.

"Yes, but… what happened tonight, Prin?"

She was definitely dodging his questions. It must have been something pretty serious.

"Are you able to help me with Mark, or are you too tired?" Princess asked.

Just as Jason was about to answer, Princess screamed.

She wasn't screaming in his mind, she was screaming with her voice.

Jason brought his awareness back to the physical world.

The lights were on.

Princess had fallen off of the bed… presumably onto the floor. Her screaming had stopped.

He saw Chief Anderson leaning over her.

"Princess!" Anderson shouted, "Just _what_ do you think you are doing?" 

Princess groaned and stood up, leaning on Jason's bed for support. Jason was surprised to see that she was wearing her old number 3 shirt and striped jeans.

"Jason… I was… talking… to him…"

"What you were doing was putting yourself in grave danger!" Anderson yelled. "You could have killed yourself with that much current going through your brain!"

"It was okay… I used my implant as a resistor…"

"One wrong move and you could have ended up just like Mark and Jason!" The Chief was gripping her arm tightly.

"But, I didn't… and I was able to talk to Jason… he's there! I was able to reset his implant…" Princess explained.

"You did _what_?" Anderson asked, shocked.

"She did?" exclaimed Mark, surprised. "Is _that_ what you and she were doing? Did it work? What's going on?"

"Yeah… she did… things feel… different… better… but I still can't talk or move." Jason replied. "I keep trying to so I can help Prin, but nothing's responding."

"I contacted Jason through my implant. The tuning device strengthened my cerebonics and set my brainwaves on the correct frequency, allowing me to reach into his mind." Princess explained.

"And _why_ didn't you ask me, or Dr. Myers, for help with this?" Anderson asked in an exasperated tone. "Or do I already know the answer?"

Princess' face drained of color.

"Exactly _how_ did you know which frequency to use to attempt this foolish scheme of yours?" Anderson asked. His voice was quiet, but Jason could tell that he was incredibly angry.

Princess hung her head, but remained silent.

"I suppose, it's no surprise to you to learn that Zoltar is dead." the Chief said.

"What?" asked Mark, shocked. "Zoltar's dead? And he thinks Prin…"

"No… not Prin…" Jason said weakly. She couldn't. She wouldn't… would she?

"I know." said Princess meekly. "And I take full responsibility, Chief."

Jason couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"I suppose you're going to arrest me, now." Princess said.

"No." answered Anderson curtly.

Princess looked up at him, confused.

"You're not?" Her voice quavered.

"As Chief of Galaxy Security, I'm declaring you mentally unfit." the Chief said in a sad voice. "Dr. Myers concurs. You are to be remanded to the custody of Ward 9."

Ward 9 was the psych ward. Jason shivered.

"No!" Mark screamed. "You can't take Princess away from us! She's all we have!"

"Jason!" the Eagle yelled desperately, "Do something! Show them you're there! Make a noise! Move your finger! Roll your eyes! _Anything_!"

Jason tried. He put every ounce of strength and will he had into giving a sign… any sign… however small… that he was alive.

But he could not. While his mind felt clearer than ever, apparently his brain and his implant still had a lot of communication issues to work out.

He screamed in frustration.

"I guess it's not working then." said Mark in a disgusted voice.

"What gave you your first clue?" spat Jason bitterly.

Lying flat on their backs, they weren't even able to see Princess as she was forcibly removed from their room.

A wave of desolation crashed over Jason.

They were alone now.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Neither of them were able to sleep much for the rest of the night. Mark and Jason went over the events of the past few hours in as much detail as they could recall, and they were still confused as to what, exactly, had started the chain of events that had led to Princess being taken away.

Neither of them admitted it, but without her they were afraid. They were mere shells of their former selves, and depended on her for everything. What would happen to them now that she was gone?

The uncertainty was killing Jason, but somehow he didn't feel any better when he saw Dr. Myers and his gorilla-nurse enter the room the next morning.

"Nurse Galt," the doctor said, "Chief Anderson has ordered us to run tests on the Condor… _again_… to check for any signs of improvement." The exasperation in his voice was obvious.

"I don't know why we keep having to do these tests!" Nurse Galt complained. "These two have been vegetables for months. Every test shows the same thing!"

"We have been given orders." said Dr. Myers firmly. "No matter how much we might disagree with those orders, we are_ obliged_ to follow them."

"As you say, Doctor." Nurse Galt sighed.

They began the same series of tests they had performed on Jason multiple times over the past few months. This time, Jason hoped that they would find something different. He tried the best he could to be mentally active when they scanned him, although he was still unable to respond to their requests for physical movement.

Mark tried to encourage him, but it was pretty obvious to both of them that the tests were yielding the same results that they had before. This was confirmed when Chief Anderson entered the room and asked for an update.

"I'm sorry, Chief." Dr. Myers said. "There's no change. The test results are the same as they were last month, and the months before. There is no response of any kind."

"Did you test his implant?" Anderson asked.

"Yes. Twice. It still shows all signs of being de-activated." came the response.

"Damn." sighed Anderson. "I was really hoping… this time…"

"I know, Sir." the Doctor said quietly. "You were hoping that the Swan was telling the truth. That she isn't really mentally unstable."

"I just…" The Chief had a hard time saying the words. "I feel like I've failed her. She's my daughter, and I just let her sit down here… day after day… wasting her life on a false hope. If I had intervened… if I had made her go… she would have hated me, but perhaps she would have been better off."

"Who's to say what would have made a difference?" asked the Doctor in a tone that indicated that he knew _exactly_ what would have made a difference.

"Staying with Mark and Jason… barely seeing anyone else for weeks on end… of course she snapped." the Chief continued. "The lack of communication must have destroyed her…"

Jason didn't know what to think. On one hand, he was angry with the Chief for not believing in Princess, but on the other, he sympathized with what he was going through.

"I kind of feel sorry for him." Mark said quietly.

"Yeah… me too." Jason replied. "I still wish he'd have faith in Princess, but I can see how this is tearing him up inside."

"We've got to get better, Jase. _You've_ got to get better. It's the only way to fix this mess."

"Me? Why me? Dump the entire burden on me, why don't you?" Jason snarled angrily.

"Because," Mark continued calmly, "you're better off than I am. You can feel, and smell, and you've made a couple of movements."

"Fat lot of good that does Prin right now!" Jason spat.

"So how is the Swan doing?" asked Dr. Myers.

"She's sleeping right now." Chief Anderson replied. "They've been interrogating her all night."

"Is she going to be charged?"

"No." Anderson replied. "We can't charge her. Officially, Zoltar died a couple of months ago of a natural illness. We had to release that story in order to quell the Spectran uprisings. He was too much of a rallying point. But with Zoltar _officially_ already dead…"

"You can't charge her with murder." the Doctor finished for him.

"But I intend to see that she gets the best medical care." Anderson resolved. "I want her to get well."

"I hope she will, Sir." said Myers dryly. He turned to the gorilla-nurse. "Nurse Galt, you are now assigned to the care of the Eagle and the Condor. You will see to their needs."

Nurse Galt looked as if she had just swallowed a bitter lemon.

"Yes, Doctor." she replied sourly.

"No…" said Mark in a shaky voice. "Not _her_…"

"Look, if Princess can deal with whatever they're doing to her right now, we can deal with this!" cried Jason.

A sudden finger of doubt crept into his mind.

"Can't we?"

"You're right, Jason." Mark said. "Interrogation by Galaxy Security doesn't sound like the most fun way to spend your time. And if she's being housed in Ward 9…"

"I don't want to think about it…" mumbled Jason.

"Well _I_ don't really want to contemplate gorilla-nurse getting close to my face with a razor blade, but it's going to happen, whether I think about it or not." Mark said.

"With platitudes like that, it's no wonder I'm still in a coma." Jason muttered.

The next couple of days were very trying for the two men. Nurse Galt was assigned to their care, but they were nowhere near as high on her priority list as they had been on Princess'. While it didn't matter so much to Mark, Jason started to feel his skin itch when his beard grew in because his shave for the day had been abruptly cancelled. His limbs felt sore when he wasn't moved around on the bed every so often.

It also bothered them both that Nurse Galt never raised the backs of their beds. They were left to stare at the ceiling for days on end.

But worst of all, she never spoke to them. She never looked at them or interacted with them. To her, they were just tiresome objects that created too many chores for her to handle. They had _never_ felt that way with Princess.

'God, I miss Nurse Swan." Jason complained one morning, about three days after Princess had been taken away. "I'd give anything to have her back."

"Don't even think about it." Mark muttered darkly. "It makes you feel worse when you remember what you're missing."

"I can't help it, okay?" Jason said angrily. "I'm not as _controlled_ as you are. I can't keep my thoughts and feelings under wraps. When I'm feeling lousy I want to fix it!"

"Fine." Mark said curtly. "Just don't include me in your whine-fest."

Jason growled, but turned off his communication contact with Mark. He wanted to be alone anyway.

"Princess!" he yelled in frustration. "Where are you?"

He thought he heard something. It was very quiet. Where was it coming from?

The sound stopped. What had just happened?

Then he heard it again. It was slightly louder. It sounded like someone talking, but it was muffled… as if there were a barrier in the way.

But the only one who could talk to him in his mind was Mark… and…

"Princess!" he yelled again.

Then he realized what had happened. He was so used to accessing his implant when he 'spoke' now, that he had done so without thinking. But since he wasn't trying to contact Mark, subconsciously he had tried to contact Princess.

Had she heard him?

"Princess! Is that you?"

He heard the sound again. It was _definitely_ a voice. A female voice. He strained to hear it.

"Jason… keep talking…"

That was all the encouragement he needed. His words came out in a rush.

"Princess! I'm so glad to hear you! Are you okay? What are they doing to you? What happened? Did you really kill Zoltar? The Chief is completely torn up about this. And now they've got this awful nurse looking after us. We can barely stand it! She won't even sit us up. We're staring at the ceiling all day and damn I miss you so much I wish I could just shake some sense into everyone…"

"Stop, Jase!" Princess said, laughing. "I've got it now!" She sounded just as loud and clear as she had that night when she had been lying next to him in bed.

Lying next to him in bed… Jason forced himself to push that thought away.

But not fast enough. He could almost feel Princess blushing. Had she sensed that thought too?

If she had, she didn't mention it.

"Oh, Jason, it's so wonderful to hear your voice. I've been going stir crazy up here all by myself! I don't know how you've managed it all of this time!"

"Well, I wasn't alone." Jason said simply. "I had you."

This time, he _knew_ Princess was blushing.

"And later," he continued, "I had Mark. In fact, he's still here. But he doesn't want to talk to me right now."

"Why not?" asked Princess in a concerned voice.

"He's fed up with me complaining about you not being here…" Jason smiled, "Of course, if he only _knew_ I was talking to you now he'd be so surprised…"

"Well let's invite him, then!" suggested Princess. "Can you contact him?"

"Uh… yeah…" Jason said reluctantly. Somehow, he didn't want to share Princess just yet.

"Is something wrong, Jason?" asked Princess.

"Could we just talk for a bit first?" Jason asked.

"Sure… if that's what you want." she answered.

"Yeah… thanks." Jason suddenly felt awkward.

"So… how long have you been conscious?" asked Princess.

"You pretty much noticed right away." Jason replied. "I opened my eyes shortly after I regained consciousness, and you saw that immediately. It was basically the same with Mark."

D'oh! He mentally slammed the heel of his hand into his forehead for bringing up Mark again.

"Wow… that's great! What a relief! I felt terrible thinking that I might have been ignoring you."

"Prin… you don't have _anything _to feel terrible about. You were the one person who _didn't_ ignore us. You went out of your way to take care of us and entertain us… I can't even _begin_ to tell you what that meant to me." He could feel himself becoming emotional.

He wasn't the only one.

"Oh, Jase…" Princess said, "you're giving me too much credit… if you only knew how many times I wondered if I was doing the right thing… if I was crazy to think that you might be there… I doubted you, Jase."

He _desperately_ wanted to hold her in his arms at that moment.

"Princess, _I _would have doubted it too. It only goes to show that you're human. And despite those doubts, you stayed with us, and never gave up on us. I owe you everything, Princess. I… I owe you my life."

"Thanks, Jase…" Princess sniffed. "I needed to hear that… it's so lonely here… everyone staring at me like I'm crazy. No one believes anything I say… I'm feeling like I _will_ go crazy if I stay here much longer. I'm just glad you contacted me! I had no idea we could still do this!"

"Neither did I… it was actually an accident… I reached out to you without even thinking about it… maybe because I was missing you so much…" Jason said.

"I guess since we connected so strongly the other night, the telepathic part of the link was made permanent…" Princess mused. "But it seems to be a very limited range. When I was on the other side of the room I barely heard you."

"Where _are_ you Prin?" Jason asked curiously.

"I'm in Ward 9." Princess said, "But the room they have me in is almost directly above yours. As you talked to me, I moved around the room until I found the spot where you came in the most clearly. I'm only guessing… but I think I'm directly above you right now."

"So that means I'm actually staring at you… " Jason grinned. "If only I had X-ray vision…"

Princess laughed. It was a good sound.

"I think this mental communication thing is pretty good, actually." she said.

"So what, exactly, did you do to me that night?" Jason asked.

"I just reset your implant. But the important thing was to do a low level reset, so that our link could be maintained. Without it, you can't get better."

"What is this link you're talking about?" Jason asked. "Is it this mental communication thing?"

"Sort of…" Princess said, thinking it over, "I think that's one of the effects of it. Jason, I'm presuming that you can talk to Mark like this, right?"

"Yes..." said Jason.

"Did you ever wonder why?" Princess asked.

That was a good question. Jason had never thought about it before.

"Your silence speaks volumes…" Princess laughed. "The reason you can communicate like this is because you are linked. It turns out that this mind beam of The Luminous One's wasn't really a weapon at all. Among its race, this was their primary means of communication."

"Essentially, it temporarily linked two or more beings so they could converse." Princess explained. "However, since our minds are a completely different biological makeup, this form of communication was deadly for humanoids."

"I can believe it…" said Jason. He remembered the agony he had felt when he had been hit by the beam.

"The Luminous One discovered this when he tried to use it on Zoltar." Princess continued. "Zoltar only survived because he had already been bonded with it. In other words, Zoltar was permanently linked with The Luminous One."

"Like _we_ are linked?" asked Jason.

"Sort of… but more intense. More intimate." Princess replied. "Anyhow, the reason you, Mark and I all survived was our implants. They allowed us to process the beam in its most rudimentary form, and link together."

"Wait a minute… together?" asked Jason. "Do you mean, we linked with _each other_?"

"Yes… obviously it was an unintended side-effect. Because we were all in beams at the same time, we were all linked. Normally such a link is closed when the beam ends, but because it was broken off unexpectedly…"

"We're still linked…" finished Jason.

"Yes!" said Princess excitedly. It was obvious that she was pleased to have someone to talk to about this, particularly someone who believed her. "At least, that's my theory. And so far it seems to be correct."

"So how does this relate to what you did at Christmas?" asked Jason.

"Well, I knew your implant was damaged. Otherwise it would have been emitting readings during the tests. It was still trying to process the link. I think it basically shut itself down, using all of its power to do that. So it wasn't communicating with your brain. Any healing that you have accomplished has been because the link was activated… with Mark. That was forcing your implant to activate and in order to do that it had to run at least a bare minimum of normal operation. What I did was reset your implant… tell it that it needs to allocate some more power to its other functions. Unfortunately, I don't know how much more power that is. It may not be very much…"

"I don't think it is." said Jason. "I still can't move or speak. But I seem to be physically feeling much more."

"That's great, Jase!" Princess exclaimed. "I think it _will_ improve. It's just going to take some time."

"Time _you_ don't have." Jason said. "I don't think they're letting you out of there anytime soon."

"I… I can deal with it." Princess said solemnly. "What I did seems to be helping you. That makes it worth whatever I have to go through. I only wish I could have helped Mark…"

"You didn't have time, Prin. Anderson de-activated the tuning device…"

"But I'm so worried about him!" Princess cried. "Jason, whatever small recovery you've managed, Mark hasn't had that… has he?"

"No." said Jason quietly.

"I didn't think so… at Christmas I kept trying, but I never got any feelings from him. Not like I did from you…" Her voice sounded as if she were crying. "I think he's in trouble Jase."

"What kind of trouble, Prin?" Jason asked.

"Your recovery… it's not based on how long you've been awake." explained Princess. "It's based on how much you've used your implant. I'm guessing that you and Mark have used your implants the same amount of time… because you were communicating with each other."

"That sounds about right…" Jason said.

"Mark was under the beam's effect the longest." Princess said. "That seems to make a difference. I was only affected for a fraction of a second, and I recovered after a few days. You were under for a few seconds, and you still haven't fully recovered. Mark was affected at least twice the amount of time you were."

"I'm afraid for him, Jase…" she continued. "I'm afraid that without our help, he may never fully recover. Or if he did, it would take so long that he'd die of old age first."

"So what can we do?" asked Jason.

"I'm not sure…" Princess mused. "We can try to reach him using the tuning device… but I think in your weakened state that could kill you. Not to mention that we don't have access to the equipment right now."

"We will." said Jason. "As soon as I can speak, I'll tell Anderson everything. I just wish I knew when that would be…"

"It's okay, Jase." Princess said, putting on a brave face. "I'm fine here. Really. I can stay here as long as I need to. You take whatever you need to recover."

"I think you're lying to me, Prin." Jason said gently. "This link seems to transmit more than words. It's transmitting your thoughts… and your feelings."

"Well it's not _so_ bad here." she said defensively. "At least it's better than a jail cell."

"You're not going to jail, Prin."

"How would you know? Did you read the Chief's mind?" she asked sarcastically.

"No… he said it in front of me." Jason replied.

"What?"

"Well, funny thing about being in a coma…" Jason said smugly, "People think you're not there. And they say a lot of things that they might not if they knew you could hear them."

"Okay, Jase, I get it. Now what did the Chief say?" Princess asked impatiently.

"All right, all right!" Jason laughed. "It turns out that he _can't_ charge you for murder since Zoltar _officially_ died months ago. Some press release Galaxy Security made."

"I forgot about that…" Princess said. "I've been so worried about you guys I haven't paid as much attention as I should to current events."

"Well, at least you don't have to worry about that." Jason said. "So if I can get well, and prove that you're not insane, then everything should be fine."

"I know you can, Jase." Princess said in a much happier voice. "I know I can count on _you_ to save me."

Now Jason was the one who was blushing.

Princess giggled.

"Uh… not to break the mood or anything…"

"What is it, Jase?" Princess asked.

"_Did_ you kill Zoltar?"


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"I knew you were going to ask me that, at some point." Princess sighed. "And I think I owe it to you to tell you the truth."

"I'm listening." Jason said quietly.

Princess took a deep breath and began to speak.

"That night, when I was thinking about how to help you, it occurred to me that there _was _someone who knew about The Luminous One and its powers: Zoltar."

"And conveniently, he was here in the building…" Jason said.

"Exactly. Although not exactly in the most accessible location." Princess replied. "I transmuted and used my status as G-3 to get in to see him. Alone."

"Well, it's no surprise then that they knew you'd been there." Jason remarked.

"I wasn't exactly trying to cover my tracks, Jase. I was excited because I thought I could help you. And I certainly didn't have any idea what was actually going to happen…" her voice trailed off.

"Go on…" Jason said.

"He… it wasn't what I expected, Jase. He was wearing on of those hideous orange jumpsuits. They had cut his hair short… at first I didn't recognize him. Until he smiled at me. It sent shivers down my spine."

Jason's heart felt constricted at the thought of Zoltar smiling at the Swan.

"He was surprised to see me… and also… pleased…" Princess continued. "I think he was just excited to have an interesting visitor. The Galaxy Security reports indicate that he'd been sullen and uncooperative for months, so they had basically been letting him rot in there."

"It's better than what he deserved…" Jason muttered.

"He started out trying to bait me." Princess ignored Jason's comment. "Trying to goad me into arguing with him, or breaking down. But I just stood there and listened. Every time I wanted to blow up at him, I thought about you lying in that room, needing me to come through for you."

Princess paused for a moment, then went on.

"Because _you_ needed me, I needed _him_. I needed information that only he could give me."

Jason felt a sharp pang of guilt that he had (albeit unknowingly) made Princess beholden to the former Spectran leader.

"I waited quietly until he had stopped speaking." said Princess. "Finally he saw that he wasn't going to get a rise out of me, and just asked what I wanted. I told him that I wanted information about The Luminous One, and the light beam it had used on you and Mark."

"What was his response?" asked Jason.

"He laughed… as if it were the funniest thing in the world." Princess replied. "I just stood there and let him. After awhile, he stopped, and then he asked me why he should help me. He… he knew…"

"He knew about me, and Mark?"

"Yes… I guess someone had talked about the Eagle and the Condor being in comas, and he had heard. He knew _exactly_ why I was there… _exactly_ what I wanted to know." Princess sounded frustrated. "He taunted me. He started out saying that I wanted to cure you both because I was scared of leadership… of commanding G-Force on my own. Then he implied that the three of us… had a certain… relationship… going on…"

A range of emotions flashed through Jason's mind. He was angry. He was insulted. But he was also aroused… Damn…

"Then he suggested that I was better off without you two… that _he_ could… um…"

Jason could feel the heat coming from her face. He could imagine what Zoltar had suggested. That bastard…

"You don't have to be angry, Jase." Princess said softly. "I don't think he really meant any of it. He was just lonely. He wanted to get a rise out of me. He wanted me to interact with him. I think he was just in need of some conversation, and this was his warped way of… socializing…"

"Socializing… no… sociopath is more like it…" muttered Jason. "I wish I could have been there with you."

"Well if you could have been there with me, I wouldn't have been there at all, now would I?" asked Princess logically.

"You know what I meant…" Jason growled.

Princess laughed.

"Of course I do, Jase." she said. "And you're so sweet for wanting to protect me. But I handled it just fine."

"Sure you did." retorted Jason. "So 'fine' that you still remember every word he said. I think, deep down, his comments are _still_ bothering you, Princess."

Princess was silent for a long moment. Jason began to wonder if she were still there.

"Princess? " he asked nervously.

"I'm still here, Jase." Princess said quietly. "I'm just thinking about what you said."

"Aw, Prin…" Jason said apologetically, "I didn't mean it like that…"

"I know you didn't, Jason." she said. " But you're right. I _am_ bothered by what Zoltar said, because there's a grain of truth in all of it. I _am_ scared at the thought of commanding G-Force on my own. And I_ do_ have a special relationship with you, and with Mark. Not exactly what he suggested, but this experience _has_ intimately connected us, in a strange way…"

"So?" replied Jason, "I'd be scared of being in permanent command too if I were you. You've never really been in command before. And there's nothing wrong with the way you've been taking care of me and Mark… no matter what the Chief thinks."

"You're right again, Jason." Princess said in a relieved tone. "I feel so much better, just talking to you about this."

"Anytime, Prin." Jason said softly.

"I guess I was just bothered that he could read me that well." Princess said. "Not that it matters now…"

"So… how did you finally get him to talk to you?" Jason asked.

"I waited until he was finished insulting me. And when he was done, I still didn't say anything. I just stood there until he made me an offer."

Jason could just picture the Swan standing, arms folded, coolly looking at Zoltar until he grew desperate enough to bargain with her.

"He offered to answer all of my questions. And in return…" Princess grew quiet.

"What did he want?" Jason asked.

"He wanted me to kill him." Princess said quietly.

"What?" Jason couldn't believe it.

"He asked me to kill him, Jase." Princess revealed. "He was going out of his mind in there, and he knew that even if he ever escaped, he was likely to be hunted down and killed by one of a number of different extremist groups. He wouldn't really be welcomed back on Spectra, since he was the person who had led them to their defeat. Did you realize that Mala was assassinated three months ago by Spectran citizens? After he had learned that, Zoltar basically gave up on life, and wasn't interested in going on."

"And you agreed to his terms…"

"Yes." Princess admitted. "I did. In the end, I knew it was the only way I could get him to be truthful with me. And I needed to know. He hadn't given any useful information to Galaxy Security in months, and I'm pretty sure his death isn't really a loss to us. Certainly it was a price I was willing to pay to help you and Mark return to normal..."

"And was he truthful with you?"

"Yes." said Princess. "At first, he wasn't telling me _everything_ I needed to know, but I knew enough from combing through the Galaxy Security database to call him on it. After that, he pretty much told me everything I wanted to know."

"And that's how you figured out about the link… what about the connection with the implants?" Jason asked.

"Well I pretty much figured that out on my own." Princess explained. "Zoltar knew almost nothing about our implants, and I certainly didn't enlighten him. But I had spent enough time reading the medical files about them, and reading the notes of the scientists who invented them, to make the connection."

"Prin… you're brilliant…" said Jason in an awed voice. "I can't believe that you spent all of that time learning about this, and then were able to figure out the problem and how to solve it… all on your own. The Chief has had a team of doctors working on this for months and they've gotten nowhere…"

"Well, I had two advantages that they didn't." said Princess. "First, I had been affected by the beam too. The fact that _I_ was able to come out of it is what convinced me that you and Mark were probably still alive in there somewhere. Second, I had the information that Zoltar had given me."

"Still…" she continued, "It certainly doesn't bother _me_ if you want to call me 'brilliant'." She gave a small laugh.

"You _are_ brilliant!" Jason repeated. "I'm sure glad you're on _my_ side, believing in me. Without you, I'd probably be dead already from Nurse Gorilla's tender, loving care."

Princess giggled.

"Nurse Gorilla?" she asked, laughing. "Is that really her name?

"No…" Jason chuckled, "Her real name is Nurse Galt. But we can't stand her. We both miss our Nurse Swan…"

"Nurse Swan?" Princess asked in a surprised tone.

Too late, Jason realized that Princess hadn't known of their nickname for her. He decided to come clean.

"It… uh… it's just something that came into my head a few months ago. Mark thought it was a pretty good name for you too, and it stuck. We've been calling you that for a long time now. But we mean it affectionately…"

"It's okay, Jase." Princess said. "Actually, I kind of like it. It makes me feel… appreciated…"

"Trust me…" Jason said teasingly, "You _were_ appreciated… you _are_ appreciated… in _many_ different ways." His words had a suggestive tone.

"Oh _really_?" Princess asked. "I'd like you to tell me all about that, Jase…"

Jason grinned to himself. Where to begin?

But he didn't have a chance to start.

"Jason, I have to go!" Princess interrupted his train of thought.

"What? Why?"

"They're coming in to interrogate me again. They'll take me to another room. I'll be out of range shortly… they're taking me now… I'll try to contact you later…"

The last was said very quietly, probably as she had been leaving her room.

Jason realized with a start that they had been talking for hours. And he had ignored Mark the entire time.

Although he wanted to keep Princess all to himself, he knew that was incredibly selfish. If anything, Mark was even more isolated than he was, and he deserved to know about Princess and what she had said. Sighing, Jason reached out to Mark.

"Yeah?" Mark replied sourly. "Are you willing to talk to me, now?"

"You're never going to believe what I have to tell you…" Jason said.

At first, Mark had been somewhat insulted that Jason and Princess hadn't contacted him, but he quickly forgot that when Jason told him what Princess had had to say.

"So she really _did_ kill Zoltar…" he said, shocked. "I wouldn't have thought she would do that… Princess really surprises me sometimes."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Jason defensively. He was feeling very protective of Princess right now.

"It's like I've said before… sometimes she doesn't think about what she's doing. She really needs to learn to think things through a little more."

"So… you're saying that you would rather that she _hadn't_ agreed to Zoltar's demands, and hadn't figured out what was wrong with us?" Jason asked angrily.

"Well… yeah… in terms of Federation security, I think it would have been better." Mark said calmly.

"So… you don't care if I… if _we_… ever recover!"

"Not if we have to hurt others to do so."

"But Mark, we _are_ hurting others by being out of it… look at what happened to poor Prin! We have to get better to help her!" Jason protested.

"But Prin wouldn't be in that jam if she hadn't been so impulsive." Mark said. "That's all I'm saying."

"So you're just going to let her rot up there in Ward 9…" Jason growled.

"No… I want to help her. I just wish she'd thought a bit more, and then she wouldn't be in this mess."

"I'm just going to pretend you didn't say that, Mark." Jason muttered.

"Okay… I can see I've touched a nerve. Let's just agree that you have to get better to help Prin." Mark said.

"Okay." said Jason reluctantly. He _really_ wanted to call Mark out on his comments, but knew that it was for the better if they were still on speaking terms.

"So what are we going to do, then?" asked Mark. "If Princess said that we need to use our implants to heal, then I guess we should be trying to access this link as much as possible."

"Yes… and hopefully, if I can show some improvement, maybe my implant can 'teach' yours to work, or something…" Jason said thoughtfully.

"Jason?" came Princess' voice. "Are you there?"

"Yeah!" Jason said to her excitedly, "I'm here, Prin! Mark's here too."

"Princess just spoke to me." Jason told Mark. "I'll get her to try and contact you. In the meantime, you try to contact her through your implant."

"Okay." said Mark. "It would be good to talk to Prin."

"Prin," Jason said, "can you try to contact Mark? He's waiting for you to do it."

"Alright, Jason." Princess replied.

After a minute or two, Princess came back.

"I can't seem to contact him, Jase!" She sounded very concerned.

"Mark!" Jason said, "Did you hear Prin? She says she's been trying to contact you."

"No… I didn't hear anything…" said Mark, dejectedly. "I've been trying to reach her too. It's like there's no one there."

"Hold on…" Jason said. "I have an idea."

"Princess," Jason said, "I'm going to try to contact both you and Mark at the same time. To act as an intermediary."

"That sounds like a good idea, Jase!" responded Princess. "Give it a whirl!"

Jason opened the lines of communication between himself and Princess, and also between himself and Mark.

"Okay." he said. "If you can hear me, let me know."

"I hear you, Jase!" said Princess.

"I hear you." said Mark.

"Okay… now… did you guys hear each other?" Jason asked.

"No… you mean I was supposed to hear Mark?" asked Princess.

"No. Is Prin talking to me?" Mark asked hopefully.

"Did you guys hear each other just now?" asked Jason.

"No, Jase. I don't think this is working." Princess sighed.

"I'm not hearing anyone but you, Jason." said Mark in a disappointed voice.

"Okay, so it seems like I can talk to both of you at once, but you can't talk through me." said Jason.

"Fat lot of good that does me…" said Mark.

"Look, Mark, I'm just trying to help!" said Jason.

"Sure you are… you're just trying to get back at me because you didn't like what I was saying about Prin and how she handled things." Mark retorted.

"Look… I think what you said about Prin was out of line, but I would_ never_ sabotage your chances of recovery because of that." Jason said.

"You just go off and have your little _private _talk with her." Mark huffed.

"What the hell is your problem, man?" Jason asked angrily. "First, you basically accuse Prin of risking galactic security, even though all she was trying to do was help us, and now, you're accusing me of shutting you out!"

"Well _didn't you_ shut me out already?" Mark yelled. "You didn't try to contact me earlier when you were having your cozy chat with Prin!"

"Is_ that_ what this is all about?" Jason asked incredulously, "You're _jealous_?"

Mark made a noise of frustration.

"Look, Mark…" Jason tried to explain, "I just… wanted a chance to talk to her for a second… I knew… I knew that if she started talking to you _I'd_ be shut out."

"What? Prin would never do that. And neither would I." Mark said.

"Maybe not intentionally," Jason said, "but I know how you feel about her. And how she feels about you. She would be so excited to talk to you… look Mark, we both know that it's _you_ she's in love with." It hurt him to say the words he had been avoiding for months, but he knew they were the truth.

"Whatever Princess may, or may not, feel for me is her business." said Mark firmly. "And there's nothing going on between us. I'm not in love with her."

"What? Not in love with her? _Now_ who's in denial? You were ready to kill Tiny when he looked down her blouse! And you were the one who was so upset with me when I kissed her!"

"Princess and I have _nothing_ going on!" Mark shouted. "It wouldn't work, okay? Just leave me alone!"

The Eagle shut off the connection between them.

Jason heard a small sound... not unlike a polite cough.

"So… um… Tiny was looking down my blouse?"

Jason had forgotten that everything he said was being spoken to Princess as well.

Damn.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Prin… I forgot you could still hear me…" Jason muttered.

"Obviously!" Princess laughed. "Did Tiny really look down my blouse? Somehow, that sounds more like something _you_ would have tried."

"Well…" Jason replied wickedly, "When you were cutting my hair…" He let the words trail off suggestively.

Princess thought for a moment.

"Oh!" she blurted. "I see. I guess that _did _make quite the view." Jason could feel her blushing.

"A _very_ nice view." Jason said. "Actually,_ any_ view of you is nice. _Very_ nice…"

"Hmmm… 'nice'…" Princess teased. "Is that the best you can come up with? I would think that someone who has the amount of time to think that you do, would be able to come up with better adjectives."

"Well I'm hardly the fascinating conversationalist that you are, Prin." Jason replied. "But I suppose I could come up with something better… How about… cute?"

"Cute?" She didn't sound entirely pleased.

"Good?"

"Keep trying, Condor!" she teased.

"Let's see… how about… incredible?" Jason asked. "As in, I think you're absolutely incredible."

"Much better. I think you'll do just fine…"

"Do just fine… at what?" Jason flirted.

"Well, what did you have in mind, Jase?" Princess asked in an intimate tone.

This was getting into dangerous territory. He loved it.

"As soon as I'm out of this bed… scratch that… as soon as I'm able to _move_… I'll be sure to show you." Jason said suggestively.

An image flashed through his thoughts… he was standing next to Princess, holding her protectively in his arms… cupping her face in his hand… bringing his lips down to hers for a long, slow kiss…

He wasn't sure where the scene had come from, but it set his blood racing. Somehow, he sensed that Princess had seen it too.

"I can hardly wait." she purred. "I just hope you know how to live up to your promises, Condor."

The image of a moment ago flashed through their minds again, only this time the embrace was more intimate. Jason had never realized how… exciting… sharing thoughts like this could be.

"I can live up to a lot of things…" came his reply.

"I'm not sure…" Princess said thoughtfully, "After all of this talk, I have some pretty high expectations."

"Reach for the sky, Prin." Jason said seriously. "I'll meet whatever expectations you have."

"That's a pretty big promise." Princess said softly.

"You're worth it, Prin."

"I… I don't know what to say to that, Jason." she replied, her lighthearted tone suddenly gone. "No one's ever said anything like that to me before."

Jason wasn't quite sure what to say either.

"I didn't mean to offend you, Prin." he said. "I was being serious. I guess you've been through a lot recently, and I should have been more sensitive."

"It's not you…" Princess said, "It's what you were saying, before."

"Okay… now I'm confused." Jason said.

"When you were talking with Mark. I only heard your side of the conversation."

"Oh." Jason answered nervously. "What was it I said that's bothering you?"

"It's not exactly _bothering_ me…" Princess said slowly, "But it brought back something that I have been trying to bury for a long time…"

"Which was…" Jason prodded.

"The fact that Mark doesn't want a relationship with me."

"Oh… that…" How had the conversation suddenly taken this turn?

"I've always been very confused about my feelings for Mark… and his for me…" Princess said. "I never exactly knew where I stood with him, and he never really wanted to discuss what was between us. Even after the flowers, he didn't want to talk about it."

"Flowers?" Jason was confused. Had Mark given Princess flowers?

"The Fierce Flowers that Spectra placed on Earth… remember?" Princess explained.

"Yeah… when one of them captured you?"

"Yes. I guess for a while there, you guys didn't know if I had survived or not. When I came back, Mark barely said anything to me. But that night he came to visit me at Jill's." Princess said.

"I didn't know that…" Jason said.

"It was a private visit." Princess said. "Mark was really upset. He had thought that I might be dead, and was devastated by it, even though I had come back alive. He had been really scared at the thought of losing a member of his team. We spent a long time talking about it… and one thing led to another… and… we spent the night together." Princess was nearly speaking in a whisper now. It was obvious that this was difficult for her to talk about.

"But…" Jason protested, "Mark said that you two never got together… that there was nothing going on between you…"

"If that's what he told you, he wasn't lying." Princess said bitterly. "Afterwards, he regretted getting so 'carried away'… he told me to forget that it ever happened."

"What?" Jason exclaimed.

"You know Mark…" Princess said, "He can't let _anything_ get in the way of being Commander. But at least I knew where I stood."

"Yeah. You took a backseat to his career." cried Jason indignantly.

Princess defended Mark.

"It's not exactly like that, and you know it Jason. The war, the security of the Federation… it was all at stake."

"Still, Prin," Jason insisted, "you shouldn't have to settle for being second best!"

"I didn't. I'm not." Princess replied. "We didn't get together, so he never had to consider my feelings."

She sounded bitter about the whole thing. Jason didn't blame her.

"You _deserve_ to have your feelings considered, Prin." he said supportively.

"Thanks, Jase." Princess said warmly. "I'm sorry for bringing you down with this."

"You _always_ brighten my mood, Prin." Jason said softly. "I just hope I can help brighten yours."

"I never realized how sweet you are, Jason." said Princess quietly. "Just now, when you said that you'd meet whatever expectations I had… that's what I had wanted to hear from Mark for a long time."

"Oh…" Jason wasn't really sure how to respond to that.

"But somehow… hearing it from you seems… right." Princess said. "At first, I was surprised at some of the feelings I was getting from you, Jase. But the more I think about it, the more I realize that…"

"That, what?" Jason mentally held his breath waiting for her response.

"That I kind of like those feelings… certainly things like this…"

The image of the two of them in an intimate embrace went through Jason's head again.

"bring up a lot of _interesting_ possibilities…" Princess finished.

"It was _you_ coming up with those thoughts!" Jason exclaimed.

"You didn't know that?" Princess asked, surprised.

"No… I thought… maybe, it was me…"

Princess laughed.

"Then I guess we both have the same thing on our minds…" she said.

"Not exactly…" Jason said. He sent Princess the same image, only his hands were in a more… interesting… place.

"Oh… my…" she said, "This is getting to be quite the conversation…"

She sent the image again, only now her hands had moved as well.

"Hey, this is almost as good as the real thing…" Jason grinned. "Almost…"

"I wouldn't know…" said Princess flirtatiously. "You've never kissed me."

"Yes I did!" Jason cried. "On Christmas! That's what sent you running off to see Zoltar!"

"Oh… yeah… I forgot about that…"

"How could you forget?" Jason huffed.

Princess laughed.

"I'm just teasing, Jase!" she said. "Of course I remember! But I wasn't sure until just now that you had intended to kiss me that night."

"Well… I hadn't, exactly. It just kind of happened. Your face was so close to mine, and I wanted to touch you so badly… and then… we were kissing."

"It was very nice…" Princess reminisced. "But certainly not up to the standards of this…"

The image of the two of them kissing flashed between their minds again.

"And that's certainly not up to the standards of the real thing…" Jason teased.

"Promises, promises…" Princess laughed. "All talk and no action Jase."

"You have my promise, Prin." Jason said. "I'm going to get out of this bed if it damn well kills me."

"I know you will, Jason." Princess said with quiet conviction.

"Hey, Jason… are you there?" It was Mark.

"Prin, I have to go." Jason said. "Mark wants to talk."

Jason wanted to talk to Mark too. But he didn't want Princess to know what was on his mind. It would only upset her.

"Okay, Jase." she sighed. "I can see it's going to be difficult having to share your attention. But Mark deserves some company too."

"That's my girl…" Jason grinned. His girl. It had a nice ring to it.

"I'll talk to you later, then." Princess said. She sent an image of herself blowing a kiss before she broke the connection.

Jason hadn't felt this good inside since before he had become comatose.

"What is it, Mark?" he asked. He couldn't keep the happiness from his voice.

"You've been talking to Princess, haven't you?" Mark accused.

"Yeah." Jason admitted, his good mood evaporating. "What of it? You just shut me out! What else was I supposed to do?"

"Fair enough…" Mark sighed. "I just wanted to apologize for my rude behavior before."

"I appreciate that." Jason said calmly. "I know it takes a lot to apologize. But before we let this drop, we need to clear the air."

"Clear the air? About what?" Mark asked.

"Your feelings for Princess. And the way you treat her." Jason replied.

"I thought we went through that already." Mark said in a frustrated tone. "There's nothing between us."

"I think there is." Jason insisted. "You say that there's nothing between you two, but you freak out whenever anyone else shows interest in her."

"Look, she's my sister. I'm just trying to make sure that no one takes advantage of her." said Mark defensively.

Jason went in for the kill.

"You mean, like_ you _took advantage of her?" he accused.

"I… don't know what you're talking about." said Mark unconvincingly.

"Well what would you call it when you sleep with a girl who's been interested in you for years, only to tell her the next morning that it never happened?" asked Jason furiously.

"I told her to forget about that…" Mark protested weakly.

"Well, she hasn't." Jason pressed on. "It still bothers her. Why did you let things go so far if you didn't want to be with her?"

"It was a mistake." revealed Mark. "I know that, now. At the time… I was just so upset at the thought that I had almost lost her… my only thought was that I had to make her mine so that I wouldn't lose her again."

"Well guess what, Flyboy?" Jason replied, "You almost succeeded. I think she's really messed up because of what you did."

"You're not telling me anything I don't already know." Mark said. "Why do you think I've tried so hard to keep my distance from her? I didn't want to hurt her any more than I already have."

"What doesn't make sense to me, is why you told her that in the first place!" Jason said angrily. "Why didn't you just get together with her if you wanted her so much?"

"I told you this before, Jason. I can't. I'm Commander. I'm not allowed to have relationships with personnel under my leadership. It could compromise my decisions." Mark explained. "And besides, I'm not sure we're right for each other anyhow."

"Who the hell gave you the right to play God with her life?" Jason exploded. "You've just been jerking her around for years, but you never really wanted _her_."

"I think you just wanted the _idea _of her." Jason accused. "You wanted your subordinate to look up to you in that way. It made you feel like a big man."

Mark sighed.

"I think you're right, Jason." he admitted. "I can't believe you just laid me bare like that, but you're right. I think my ego got a big kick out of her feelings for me, so I did just enough to keep that going. And it doesn't hurt that she's sexy as hell."

"You don't go to bed with every sexy woman you meet, Mark." Jason growled. "That's no excuse for what you did."

"I know." Mark said apologetically. "It bothers me. I think about it all the time; whenever I see her. She… she'd never been with anyone else before. I took that from her, and now she can't get it back."

"If I were able to move I'd come over there and strangle you myself." Jason threatened.

"Don't think I haven't beaten myself up over this." Mark justified. "Like I told her, it was a mistake and should never have happened. It would be better if she just forgot about it. I wish she would."

"I don't think she will, Mark." Jason replied, "But I'll promise you one thing. I'm damn well going to try to get her to forget about you."

"I… I'm glad, Jase." Mark said quietly.

"You are?" asked Jason, surprised.

"Yes." Mark admitted. "She deserves to be happy. She's a good person. She's not right for me, so I shouldn't keep holding on to her any longer. She deserves someone like you, who can make up for my mistakes."

Jason was floored.

"I can't believe you just said that."

"Neither can I." Mark replied. "But it's true. I can't say I won't be jealous from time to time, but in the long run, I think you're much better for her than I ever could be."

"I appreciate that." Jason said.

There were no more words between them. They both thought about Princess for a long while before finally falling asleep.


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Things settled into something of a routine after that. Since both Mark and Princess could only talk to Jason, his time was in great demand. He spoke with one, and then the other, almost every waking minute. While it was somewhat tiring, he was making constant use of his implant, and he was beginning to feel results. He felt stronger, and more alive. It seemed as if his implant were starting to regenerate some of his lost muscle mass. He only hoped that it was also re-connecting with his brain. Unfortunately, Mark didn't seem to be showing any signs of improvement.

One afternoon, a few weeks later, Nurse Galt was changing his IV drip. She wasn't exactly gentle with inserting the needle, and now that he could feel things it really hurt.

The gorilla nurse gave an unexpected gasp.

Jason realized what he had just done: he had moved his arm.

He had been anticipating the sharp jab of the needle, and had unconsciously moved his arm away from it.

"Mark!" he cried excitedly, "I moved my arm!"

"What?" came Mark's reply, "You did? How?"

"It was involuntary… I think…" Jason explained. "I was just thinking about how Nurse Gorilla likes to stab us as if we were Spectran spies in disguise, and then I moved my arm away from her needle!"

Nurse Galt was still staring at the now motionless Condor. Gingerly, she picked up his arm and tried to insert the needle again.

This time Jason thought about it. He was able to move his arm again, although not as much.

Immediately the nurse pressed the call button.

"Well, I guess there's _something_ she can do right!" Mark exclaimed happily.

They waited breathlessly for the doctor's arrival. He didn't disappoint them.

"Nurse Galt!" he said in an irritated tone. "What's going on? I was just about to leave for the day when I got your call."

"Dr. Myers," the nurse reported, "the Condor moved his arm."

"What?" asked Dr. Myers. "That's highly unlikely. Are you sure?"

"I… I wasn't at first." she admitted, "But then it happened again. I called you right away."

"Well, hallelujah!" Jason cried victoriously.

"If that's true," the doctor mused, "his motor response jumps up to a 5 or 6 on the scale. That's a significant change."

"So start testing him already!" screamed Mark.

"Should we… run some tests, Doctor?" Nurse Galt asked hesitantly.

"Let's just wait and see…" said Myers, looking at his watch.

"Wait and see about what?" asked Chief Anderson as he walked into the room. "What's going on, Doctor? I heard that you got a call from Nurse Galt."

"Way to go, Chief! Always on the ball!" cheered Mark.

"The Condor moved his arm, Sir." Nurse Galt reported. "Twice."

"Well, then, what are you waiting for, Myers?" the Chief asked excitedly. "Run some new tests!"

"I'm on it, Sir." Myers replied in a crisp voice.

Jason tried as hard as he could to comply with their tests, even though it meant that Nurse Galt was trying to stab him with that damn needle again. But it worked. He was able to repeat the movement. When they tried with his other arm, he was able to manage a small movement there as well. But there was still no response from his legs.

"His muscle tone looks… improved." mused Anderson. "Nurse Galt, have you been working his muscles for him?"

"No, Sir." The nurse withered under the Chief's intense stare. "I've had so many duties, there hasn't been time…"

"So, then, what could account for this amelioration?" the Chief asked thoughtfully. "Have you analyzed the Condor's implant recently?" he asked.

"No…" Nurse Galt looked ashamed. "Dr. Myers said that it wasn't a high priority."

Chief Anderson glared at the doctor.

"Well, it is a priority _now_. Fetch the monitoring equipment immediately!" he ordered.

Dr. Myers nodded, and the nurse practically ran from the room.

"This improvement is remarkable..." the doctor began. But the Chief cut him off.

"No thanks to you." he observed dryly.

Jason could barely contain his excitement.

Nurse Galt returned, and the monitoring equipment was hooked up.

"This… this is incredible!" Dr. Myers exclaimed. "The implant has been activated! It's not operating anywhere close to full capacity, but it is definitely healing his body."

"What happened, Jason?" Chief Anderson asked, looking directly into the Condor's face. "What re-activated your implant?"

Jason tried desperately to speak. But no sound came out. He was, however, able to manage a slight movement of his eyes.

"Don't worry, Jason." Anderson said, putting his hand on Jason's shoulder. "We're going to do everything possible to help you make a full recovery."

"I only wish…" he continued, "that Mark could recover as well."

"Your wish is our command, Chief!" Jason cried.

He and Mark whooped with laughter.

"So…" Nurse Galt said quietly, "The Swan was right. They _are_ alive in there. At least, the Condor is."

"It would appear so." replied Anderson.

"So, release her, already!" yelled Jason.

"Are…" the nurse swallowed nervously, "Are you going to release her?"

"_Finally_! Nurse Gorilla displays a modicum of sense!" cried Mark.

"No." answered the Chief.

"What?" exclaimed Mark and Jason.

Nurse Galt looked surprised as well.

"The Swan was placed into the care of Ward 9 several weeks ago." Anderson explained. "That decision was made based on her actions, which were not those of a rational person. While her assumption may have been correct, I still don't believe she is in her right mind."

"I'm sorry, Sir." the nurse replied. She actually seemed like she meant it.

"Thank you." Anderson said, wiping his eye. "She's gotten worse, actually. All she does is lie on the floor all day, always in the same place. She barely speaks. She barely eats. She's not interested in talking to the doctors, although you would think that she would be desperate for human interaction at this point. She won't even talk to me. It's as if she has retreated into herself."

She hadn't retreated into herself… Princess was spending her time talking to _him_! Jason knew that he somehow had to communicate what was going on.

There was only one person he could talk to who could speak aloud.

"Princess!" he cried, "I have to talk to you!"

"What is it, Jason?" she asked. "What's going on?"

"Well, first things, first!" he said excitedly. "I moved my arm!"

"Oh, Jason!" Princess cried. "That's wonderful!" He could hear her happiness in her voice.

"Yeah… Nurse Gorilla was trying to stab me with the IV, and I moved my arm away. Turns out that she actually has a brain cell or two, because she called Dr. Myers. The Chief came as well, and they ran some tests."

"What were the results?" Princess asked with baited breath.

"I'm moving up their damn coma scale!" Jason crowed. "I was able to reproduce the movement… with both arms! And when the Chief looked at me I was able to move my eyes slightly."

"Oh, Jason…" sniffed Princess emotionally, "I just wish I could have been there to see it!"

"You _have _been there for me, Princess." Jason said warmly, "In every way that counts. It's not your fault those doctors are too narrow-minded to believe you."

"Unfortunately, I can't speak yet." Jason continued. "And Anderson thinks you're still mentally unstable. Prin… what do you do all day?"

"When I'm not being interrogated?" Princess asked. "I spend a good part of my day talking to a wonderful Condor…"

Jason felt his heart warm at her words.

"But when we're not talking…" he pressed.

"I usually try to sleep, or eat, or something else." she replied. "They try to talk to me, but I don't answer. They're just trying to trick me with one of their mind games."

"I don't think that's working, Princess." Jason responded. "Anderson just said that he's worried about you. He thinks you've gotten worse because all you do is lie on the floor all day."

"So… let me get this straight… when I talk to them they don't believe me, and think I'm crazy." Princess said. "When I don't talk to them, they think I'm crazy."

"That's pretty much it." Jason admitted.

"Wow. And they think _I'm_ mentally unstable!" she giggled. "I guess I should start talking to them again."

"Probably…" Jason grinned.

"Jase… the Chief is here. I have to go."

"Okay, good luck!" he said.

88888

"I just talked to Prin." Jason said to Mark. "I told her what's been going on here."

"How's she doing?" Mark asked. "Is she coping?"

"Coping, yes. But not 'improving'." Jason replied.

"Huh?"

"I told her what the Chief said about her 'retreating into herself'. She's going to talk to them a bit more now. Hopefully she can convince them to release her soon."

"I hope so too, Jase." Mark replied. "I hope so too."

88888

But Princess was not released. She remained in Ward 9, while every day Jason regained more and more of his movement capabilities. After another couple of weeks, he was able to move his eyes at will, and grasp items with his hand. He could raise his arms, although only clumsily. He had also exhibited the occasional facial movement. Unfortunately, Mark still showed no signs of recovery whatsoever.

Shortly after Jason had begun moving, Tiny and Keyop came to pay him a visit.

"Brrrt… Jason… heard… you're alive?" Keyop asked.

"It's great to see you awake again, Jason!" Tiny exclaimed.

Their response was an icy Condor glare.

"Miss you!" said Keyop, undeterred. "Hope you get better… doot… soon!"

"Yeah." agreed Tiny, a little unnerved by Jason's cold look. "We've been out to your trailer, and fixed it up for you. It'll be ready whenever you can get out of here!"

"I'm not going anywhere without Mark and Princess!" Jason shouted. But of course, they didn't hear him.

"I appreciate that, Jason." said Mark.

"You'd do the same for me." Jason replied.

Their visitors' conversation, being somewhat one-sided, didn't last very long. But as they turned to go, Jason managed to lightly grasp Tiny's hand. The Owl turned around.

"What is it, Jason?" he asked.

Jason stared hard at him. He tried to speak. He knew his face was moving, but no words were coming out.

"It's okay, Jason." Tiny said. "It was no trouble coming to see you." The Owl was as oblivious as ever.

"Brrrt… bye, Jason!" Keyop said happily as the two left.

"Well that was an exercise in futility!" exclaimed Jason.

"But they talked to you at least." Mark said bitterly. "I'm still just a piece of furniture to them."

"We'll show them, Mark." Jason muttered. "We'll show them that we're _both_ in here."

88888

Jason grew stronger every day. Each morning brought a little more movement, and he was starting to feel like a real person again. Chief Anderson came to visit daily, usually before he went to his office each morning. Tiny and Keyop dropped in for brief visits every week. But Mark was still outwardly unresponsive, and Princess was still being held in Ward 9.

One morning, a few weeks later, Jason was trying to speak. He had been attempting to talk every day, to no avail, but the day before he had been able to swallow. This gave him hope that perhaps he was regaining control of his throat.

Every time he got frustrated with his lack of progress, Mark would keep encouraging him. Sometimes it was helpful, and sometimes it was annoying.

Right now it was annoying.

"You can do it, Jase!" Mark said. "Try again!"

"Would you shut the hell up?" Jason yelled. "This is not as easy as you seem to think it is!"

"Come on, Jason. Don't tell me the great Condor gives up so easily."

Mark always knew which buttons to push.

Jason screamed in frustration.

"Wait!" Mark cried, "I heard that!"

"I know you heard that!" Jason growled. "How could you not have heard that?"

"No, I mean with my ears!" Mark insisted, "I think you made a noise, Jase!"

Jason screamed again. This time he heard it too. He had definitely made a groaning-type noise in his throat.

"Yes!" he whooped. That made a small noise as well.

Mark cheered and whistled.

"I've got to tell Prin!" Jason exclaimed. He tried to reach out to her.

"Princess! Prin! I've got some great news!"

But there was no response.

"Princess?"

He couldn't seem to find her. She must be out of her room.

All day, Jason practiced making noises in his throat. When Nurse Galt came in to change their sheets and put Jason's bed down for the evening, Jason grunted. She nearly hit the ceiling as she jumped in surprise, and Mark couldn't stop laughing for five minutes.

"I guess now that you're getting better, you're turning into the troublemaker you were before." Nurse Gorilla lectured the Condor. "I won't stand for it, young man! You owe me some respect!"

And with that, she left the room, her nose in the air.

Jason joined Mark in his amusement.

The one fly in the ointment was Princess. Jason still couldn't reach her. Where the hell was she? He had been so excited to tell her what was going on, yet now she wasn't there.

About an hour later, Princess contacted him.

"Jason, are you there?" she asked.

"Yes!" he said in a relieved tone. "I've been trying to contact you all day! Where have you been?"

"The doctors took me out." she said wryly.

"Out? Out where?" Jason asked.

"Out of the building. Outside. In a car, but outside." Princess explained. "They brought me to another Federation hospital."

"What kind of hospital?" asked Jason nervously.

"It's for people with mental issues… just like here." she said, "but it's much lower security."

"What do you mean by lower security?"

Princess' words came out in a rush.

"They brought me to an apartment, Jason. A real apartment. It had a kitchen, a big shower, a living room… and windows. Oh, Jase, it had three large windows! And they opened! I could breathe in the outside air. It was cold, and crisp and clean…. fresh…" her voice trailed off, reminiscing.

"Well, it sounds like you had a good time." Jason said unenthusiastically.

"They… they told me that I could live there, if I wanted." Princess confided. "That all I had to do was ask, and it could be _my_ place."

"So… when do you leave?" Jason's heart was in his throat.

"What? Leave? Who said anything about leaving?" Princess sounded confused.

"But you just said…"

"I said that they told me I _could_ live there. I turned them down, of course!" Princess replied. "Were you doubting me, Condor?"

"Me? Doubt you? No… never!" Jason protested,

"I could _never_ leave you and Mark behind." Princess insisted. "I don't care what they offer me!"

Jason grinned foolishly. Some of it was even reflected on his face.

"Besides…" Princess continued, "I wanted to be here for tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Now it was Jason's turn to be confused. "What's tomorrow?"

"Maybe your mind really is going!" Princess teased. "Tomorrow is your birthday, Jason."

His birthday? He _had_ forgotten. With all of the monotony in the hospital the days blended into one another. He hadn't even been sure of the date until just now.

"Are you sure?" Jason asked.

"I would never forget it." Princess replied. "Unfortunately, I've been too busy to get you a gift though… hope you don't mind."

"What, no internet shopping up there in Ward 9?" Jason laughed.

"Nope. They're in the Dark Ages. But I promise to get you something fantastic as soon as I can."

"I already have something fantastic." Jason said. "You."

"Oh… well, in that case… I guess you'll just have to settle for me then."

"It's not settling. You're all I want." Jason replied.

And then he got an idea. He _would_ have Princess for his birthday. No matter what.

"You must be pretty tired after that long day." he said. "Do you want to get some sleep?"

"Yeah… that's a good idea." answered Princess. "I'll talk to you tomorrow morning, okay?"

"You can count on it!" Jason promised.

As soon as Princess had broken off their connection, he contacted Mark.

"Up and at 'em, Mark! No sleep for us tonight!" he said. "We've got work to do!"

Mark groaned.

"I've been listening to you make weird noises all day. What are you doing tonight?"

Jason grinned as he filled Mark in on his plan.


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Early the next morning Chief Anderson came into Mark and Jason's room. Seeing the Condor wide-awake he walked over to his bed.

"Happy Birthday, Jason!" he said, raising the bed to a more upright position.

Jason's response was to grab the Chief's hand and stare at him.

"What is it, Jason?" asked Anderson.

The Condor's face took on a determined look. Very slowly and carefully he spoke.

"P…P…Prrrin…cesss…." Jason said.

Chief Anderson was amazed.

"Did you just say, 'Princess'?" he asked in amazement.

When Jason nodded slightly, Anderson's face broke out into a rare smile.

"That's wonderful, Jason! Your recovery is moving along well!"

Unfortunately, the Chief seemed to be missing the point.

"Prrrrincesssss!" repeated Jason. "W…want… Prrrrincessss!"

The Chief's face fell.

"I'm sorry, Jason." he replied. "It's not possible for you to see Princess right now. Things are complicated."

Inside, Jason felt like screaming. He could hear Mark making noises of frustration. But the Condor did his best to remain calm. He tried again.

He tightened his grip on Anderson's hand as much as he could. Apparently it was pretty tight, because the Chief actually winced.

"Want… Prrrrrincessss… now!" he said again.

"I can't, Jason…" the Chief protested.

"H…here! Now! P….Prrrincessss!" Jason insisted.

"Jason!" Anderson was getting angry.

But so was Jason.

"Want… her!" he cried. "Now!"

Seeing the look on his face, and the massive effort the Condor had expended, the Chief relented.

"All, right." he acquiesced. "But only for a moment."

The Chief left the room.

Mark whooped for joy.

"You did it!" he cried happily. "You spoke! And you got him to let Prin out of there!"

"Yeah." replied Jason, basking in the glow of his victory for a moment. Then he grew determined again.

"Now, the trick is to keep them from taking her back." he said.

Quickly, Jason contacted Princess.

"Wake up, Prin!" he said happily.

"I'm up already!" came the reply. "Happy Birthday, Jason!"

"Get ready!" Jason warned her. "I've got plans for you!"

"What kind of plans?" Princess asked. "Oh, Jase, I have to go! The Chief is here!"

"See you soon, Prin." Jason grinned.

A minute later, Princess entered their room. She was wearing rumpled institutional pajamas and paper slippers. Her hair looked like it hadn't been combed in a week. But her eyes sparkled with excitement.

Jason had never seen a more beautiful sight.

"Jason!" she cried, running over to him and giving him a big hug.

"Prrrincesss….." Jason moaned out loud. Carefully, he put his arms around her and held her tightly.

"Jason! You can talk!" she exclaimed.

"Surprise!" Jason said in her mind. "I thought it might be more fun to tell you this way. Didn't you wonder what made the Chief bring you here?"

"No…. I've barely had time to think about this…" Princess said out loud.

"I _asked_ him to bring you here!" declared Jason proudly.

"You did?" asked Princess out loud. "Oh, Jase! I'm so proud of you!"

Chief Anderson seemed very puzzled by this one-sided conversation. Mark laughed at the look on his face.

"I told you that _you_ were all I wanted for my birthday!" Jason teased.

Jason's face took on a look of intense concentration. Still embracing Princess, he stared at the Chief.

"Prrrrin…. ssssssavvvved…. me!" he declared. "Shhhhhheeeee… h…helped… usssss!"

The Chief nodded.

"I can see that you feel strongly about this, Jason." he said. "But it's time for Princess to go. She really shouldn't have been brought here to begin with."

"No."

"It's okay, Jase." Princess whispered in his ear. "You can talk now. In a day or two you can explain more."

"No." insisted Jason.

Anderson stepped toward the bed, reaching for Princess.

"It's time for Princess to go now, Jason." he repeated.

"No!" cried Jason. "Princesssss… staysss… here!" His grip around her tightened.

"Jason, you're hurting me!" Princess whispered into his ear.

"Sorry!" he apologized in her mind. "But now that you're here I can't let them take you away again!"

The Chief pulled vainly at Jason's arm, but it wouldn't move. The implant had apparently replaced a _lot_ of his muscle tissue.

"Jason," Anderson tried to reason with him, "Princess needs to come with me. She needs special care."

The Chief fell victim to the icy Condor glare that set Spectran goons trembling in their boots.

"No!" Jason insisted. "Prrrrincesss…not… ssssssick!"

The Chief opened his mouth to respond, but Jason's glare stopped him.

"Not…sssssick! Shhhheeee… ssssaved usssss!"

"I can see that this is very important to you, Jason." Anderson said quietly.

"What was your first clue?" Mark laughed.

"Under the circumstances…" Anderson looked pained, "I guess I can let Princess spend some time here today."

Jason's face broke out into a big grin. His grip on the Swan relaxed, and Princess moved to give him a big kiss.

"My hero." she purred. Then she winked at him.

"I guess I should admit that I did this as much for me as for you." said Jason in her mind.

"What a sweet thing to say!" replied Princess aloud. "Now, Jase, I want to go talk to Mark for a minute."

"No!" Jason worried, "Once you're not next to me anymore the Chief may just take you back to Ward 9!"

"I think we can trust him, Jason." Princess spoke, turning to look at Anderson. "He'll keep his promise."

The Chief nodded slowly, but his look was still puzzled.

Princess walked over to Mark's bed. She raised it to a sitting position and angled his head so that he could see into the center of the room. Then she sat down next to him.

"Mark… this is very hard for me." she began. "I just wanted to let you know how sorry I am that I wasn't able to help you too. When I think that all of this time you might have been recovering, as Jason has…" she broke off in a sob.

"It's not your fault, Prin!" Mark cried.

"Mark says that it's not your fault." Jason relayed the message to her.

"Thanks, Jason." Princess nodded in his direction before returning her attention to Mark.

"That's nice of you to say, Mark, but it's not entirely true. I _am _at fault. In the past you have accused me to being too impulsive, and it's true… If I had thought a bit that night… even just enough to lock the door to this room before trying to reach Jason, that might have given me enough time to reset your implant too…"

"If you had thought had thought that night, maybe you wouldn't have killed Zoltar!" Mark replied in a lecturing tone.

Jason winced, but attempted to relay the message to Princess through his implant.

"Mark says…"

Princess held up her hand.

"Don't bother, Jason." she said aloud to him. "You don't have to say it. I know what Mark is thinking. He thinks that if I hadn't been so impulsive that I wouldn't have killed Zoltar. Doesn't he?" She turned to Jason for confirmation.

"Yes." said Jason aloud.

"I thought so…" Princess replied. She turned back to Mark and addressed him again.

"Well, Mark, you're wrong. I _did_ think Zoltar's offer through, and frankly I felt that your recovery, and Jason's recovery, were worth more than his miserable life. If you think I'm a fool for acting on that belief, then you go right ahead. _But I don't regret it for one second. _Why, look at Jason!" she cried, gesturing over toward the Condor. "Tell me that what I did wasn't worth it!"

"Wait a minute, Princess!" Anderson interrupted, grabbing the Swan by the arm. "Are you claiming responsibility for Jason's recovery?"

"Yes!" barked Jason aloud, at the same time Princess replied, "Not exactly…"

The Chief looked at Princess. She continued her answer.

"Yes, I started Jason's recovery by resetting his implant." she explained, "But Jason has done a lot of work since then. You wouldn't believe the amount of effort he has put into getting better, and being able to move. And he didn't even tell me about his speech!"

Princess turned to look at Jason.

"How long have you been talking, Jase?" she asked him.

"I was able to make sounds yesterday." Jason replied in her mind. "I scared Nurse Gorilla right out of her pantyhose!"

"That's something I would have liked to see!" Princess laughed aloud.

"Then I practiced speaking all last night, so I could talk to the Chief this morning." Jason finished.

"You mean you didn't sleep all last night?" Princess exclaimed.

Jason shook his head.

"And you kept poor Mark up all night practicing your speech?" she accused.

"Yes…" Jason replied aloud, a grin moving slowly across his face.

"It was all for you, Prin." he continued in her mind. "Mark agreed that it was worth it."

"Oh, Jase!" Princess smiled at the Condor.

Anderson cleared his throat.

Princess turned around, startled. It was obvious that she had forgotten that he was there.

"How can you claim to have started Jason's recovery when he didn't move for weeks after… the incident… with the implant tuning device?" he asked.

"Jason's movement wasn't the first part of his recovery." Princess explained. "His sense of touch has been improving for a long time now. And I think it just took awhile for his implant to kick itself into gear once it got reset."

The Chief nodded, taking this information in. His face was still a mask of confusion.

"And… are you somehow _communicating_ with Jason?" he asked. "Telepathically?" His voice was filled with disbelief.

"Yes." answered Princess directly. "You could call it telepathic… but really, it's more that we're speaking through our implants."

"When did this start?" Anderson inquired. It was obvious that he still wasn't sure that he believed Princess.

"It was after I reset Jason's implant." Princess explained. "It seems that by doing that I strengthened the link between us."

"And can you talk to Mark as well?" the Chief asked.

"No…" Princess replied, "But Jason can. They've been linked all along… ever since they woke up."

"How exactly does this work?"

"We open up a connection to each other. We can turn it on and off. It seems to be short range though. When I'm on the wrong side of my room upstairs, I can barely hear Jason."

"Wrong side of the room…" The Chief looked thoughtfully up at the ceiling, and understanding dawned in his eyes.

"Is that why you are always lying on the floor… in the same spot?" he asked.

"Yes." said Princess. "It seemed to work best when I was right above Jason. We've been talking a lot since it's pretty lonely up there by myself. And Jason really only has Mark for company."

Anderson appeared to be debating with himself.

"I want to believe you, Princess." he said. "I really do. But your story of being a catalyst for Jason's recovery, and your talk of telepathic communication, are somewhat far-fetched… Could you prove it to me?"

"What do you have in mind?" Princess asked.

"Something simple." the Chief replied. "You stand next to the door, looking into the hallway. I'll hold up some fingers to Jason, and we'll see if he can tell you how many there are."

"Okay." Princess shrugged. "That should be pretty easy."

Anderson seemed slightly surprised at her easy acquiescence. He moved her to the door, and positioned her so that he was convinced that she could not see Jason's bed. Then he stood with his back to her, facing the Condor.

"Okay…" Jason said to her, using his implant. "Right now he's twirling his mustache…"

"Jason, this is serious!" Princess replied in his mind.

"Okay, okay." he said, chastened. "He has two fingers held up. Wait… he just changed it to three. Oh… he's being sneaky. He just made a fist."

Princess spoke aloud.

"Jason says that you had two fingers up, then put up a third, and then you made a fist, so right now you have no fingers up." she said.

"That's amazing!" Anderson said in surprise.

"Not really." Princess responded, turning back. "I've been trying to tell you all along that we've been linked from the moment The Luminous One hit us all with that light beam…"

The Chief waved his hand, indicating that she should stop.

"I know what you've told us, Princess." he said. "But this is the first time that we can actually verify anything that you have said." He turned to look at Mark. "You say that Mark can communicate with Jason, but not with you…" he mused.

"Yes." replied Princess. "I think the only reason I can speak with Jason is because our implants connected when I reset his."

"All right." Anderson said. "Let's test out that theory. Mark, I'm going to ask you something only_ you _would know. You will tell Jason, and Jason will tell Princess."

The Chief looked seriously at Mark.

"Mark, what is the primary mission of 1-Rover-1?"

"That piece of tin has a mission?" Jason exclaimed in surprise.

"Yeah… incredible, isn't it?" Mark said dryly. "Its mission, if you can believe this… is to monitor Zark for signs of malfunction. Apparently our 'Guardian' at Center Neptune likes to go crazy at random intervals."

"That would certainly explain a lot of the dumb things he's told us!" Jason remarked. He relayed the information to Princess.

"What?" asked Princess aloud. "You've got to be kidding, Jase!"

"Nope… that's what Mark said." Jason responded. "Tell the Chief!"

"All right…" Princess said. She looked at Anderson.

"I'm sorry Chief, but I think Mark is pulling our legs. He says that 1-Rover-1's mission is to monitor 7-Zark-7 for signs of malfunction." She looked darkly at the Condor. "I can't believe I just said that."

"You're right…" said Anderson, aghast. "Of all of you, only Mark knew this. And I know he would never have countermand an order to tell you that before now…"

"And that means…" he turned to look at Mark, "that you're awake in there. That we've been ignoring you all of this time… I'm… I'm sorry, Mark." The Chief hung his head with this realization.

"Mark says it's okay, Chief." Princess relayed the message (via Jason). "He says that if your positions were reversed he probably would have felt the same way. But he is glad that you know he's there, now!"

"We have a lot of lost time to make up for." the Chief said.

"I'm willing to help, however I can." Princess said, putting her hand on Anderson's shoulder.

88888

They spent the rest of that day discussing Princess' theories and discoveries about the nature of their coma and its relationship to their implants. Once again, Jason was impressed with how much time, effort and thought she had put into this. It was clear that she had already put most of the pieces together before she had spoken with Zoltar, and that he had provided the remaining information she had needed to help Jason.

The big difference this time was that now Chief Anderson seemed impressed too. He was taking the Swan's words seriously and advising Dr. Myers on treatment and testing options.

Princess confided her worries about Mark to the Chief. Mark didn't seem surprised to hear what she thought.

"I had been thinking something along the same lines, myself." he said quietly.

However, Princess still felt that Mark's best chance was to have his implant reset as Jason's had been, but since he was not able to contact her, it would be more difficult.

"The only option as I see it," said Anderson, "Is to have Jason help you in contacting Mark's implant. Or perhaps he could reset Mark's implant while you directed him."

Princess was thrilled that the Chief was accepting of her ideas.

"I agree." she said. "When can we have access to the equipment?"

"Now wait a minute!" Anderson said, holding up his hands. "I don't think we should do this right now. Jason is still weak, and being subjected to that kind of current could damage his recovery. I think we need to wait until he is stronger."

Princess, Jason and Mark all reluctantly agreed that this was the best course of action. But it was obvious to Jason that Mark wasn't going to be patient for much longer.


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

After that, things settled into something of a routine again. Princess never went back to Ward 9, and was given back her old room next door. Since her bed was along the same wall as Jason's (only on the other side), they were able to continue their nighttime conversations. This turned out to be a good thing, because they were almost never alone during the day. Dr. Myers, Nurse Gorilla, Tiny, Keyop and Chief Anderson were constantly coming and going, performing tests, visiting with the patients, and checking on Jason's progress.

And Jason was making remarkable progress. It seemed that he had tipped some kind of scale in his head and his recovery began to accelerate. Within a few days he was speaking aloud almost as well as he did in his head. He was able to chew and swallow, and the IV was removed. He could now raise and lower his own bed, and use a bedpan instead of a catheter.

One morning about a week after Jason's birthday, Princess slipped into Mark and Jason's room.

"Anyone here?" she asked, looking around.

"Nope. It's empty!" Jason said. He was speaking aloud. The doctors had recommended that he do so, even when speaking with Princess or Mark. He kept his implant conversations to nighttime chats with Princess, when she wasn't in the room.

"Oh, good!" the Swan replied. "I'm happy that everyone believes me now, and is working so hard toward your recoveries, but all the same, I sometimes miss the privacy we all used to have."

Jason nodded, and Mark voiced his agreement.

"Anyhow, since we have a moment alone, I brought you something, Jase."

"What is it?" he asked.

"It's your birthday present! The one I promised you!" Princess smiled.

"I told you, Prin, the only present I wanted was _you_. And that's the present I got." Jason replied.

Mark made gagging sounds. Jason ignored them.

"Anyhow… a belated Happy Birthday, Jason!" Princess said, depositing a small package onto his lap.

Jason carefully unwrapped the gift. It was a pair of driving glasses.

This time Princess wasn't crying when she said, "You can use them when you are able to race again."

The Condor, however, felt something in his eye. Blinking rapidly, he spoke.

"Thanks, Prin." he said. "You always come up with great gifts. I never told you how much I appreciated the pillows you got for us at Christmas. Mark likes his too."

"I'm glad to hear that." Princess smiled. "I hope they make you both more comfortable."

"Now," she continued, "Since Nurse Galt seems to have taken a holiday, I guess it's up to me to start your morning routine." With that she busied herself getting various hospital supplies together. It was just like old times.

Except that now, Jason could speak with her as she worked.

Princess met Mark's needs first. She brushed his teeth, combed his hair, shaved his face, gave him a bath and replaced his IV. The entire time she chattered away to him, just like she had done before. Jason just watched her and grinned.

It was good to have Nurse Swan back. He knew from occasional comments Mark was making that he was glad too. Princess was a significant improvement on Nurse Gorilla… in more ways than one.

When she was finished, Princess turned to Jason.

"Now it's your turn, Condor." she said with a grin. "Do you need me to help you or can you do any of this by yourself?"

"I can do it!" Jason exclaimed reflexively, before realizing that he was going to miss being waited on hand and foot by Nurse Swan.

Princess watched him perform his basic hygiene tasks, helping only when absolutely necessary, which wasn't often. Jason was actually pretty proud of himself.

But when it came time to shave, he asked Princess to help him.

"I'm a little nervous with a blade close to my face." he explained.

Princess nodded, and began to shave him. Slowly and gently she pulled the razor across his skin. Jason reveled in her close proximity. They had had virtually no time alone together since she had been released from Ward 9, and he was enjoying her attentions.

"This was a lot easier when your face didn't move." Princess murmured.

"Then let me help you." Jason replied, softly putting his hand over hers and guiding it along his face.

"Wait a minute!" Princess exclaimed. "You're better at this than I am! You could have done this yourself!"

"Perhaps…" Jason grinned, "But it's much more fun being pampered by you."

"Well, I guess you deserve a little pampering." Princess admitted. She ran her fingers lightly across his skin. "All smooth, now."

Jason caught her hand and held it, looking into her eyes. Slowly, he raised his other hand and ran his fingers through her hair. Eventually, he cupped the base of her skull in his palm and drew her in for a kiss.

This kiss was not soft, or slow. It was hard, and bold. It demanded everything… and they both gave everything in response.

"Uh… Jase… remember me?" Mark said in the Condor's mind.

Jason ignored him.

Princess wrapped her arms around Jason's neck, pressing her body against him. Jason's arms slipped around her waist, drawing her deeper into the kiss.

"Jason… you have a audience! This isn't really what I need to see right now…" said Mark uncomfortably.

Jason shut off his connection with Mark. The Eagle was going to mess up his concentration.

The Condor and the Swan took their time, seeking out each other's wants and desires, and fulfilling their needs. It was a long moment before they breathlessly came apart.

"Jason…" murmured Princess seductively, "that was _definitely_ worth waiting for."

"I told you that the real thing was much nicer." he said, a wicked gleam in his eyes. "Was it everything you thought it would be?"

"Jason, my expectations were blown away." Princess replied. "I don't remember _ever_ feeling…" as she spoke her head turned slightly and her gaze fell upon the Eagle.

"Oh, Mark!" she exclaimed, startled. Quickly sitting up, she straightened her clothes.

"Mark, that's not to say that you weren't…" she grew quiet, her cheeks rosy from an oncoming blush. She looked back and forth from Condor to Eagle, an unsure look upon her face.

"Damn." she said after a long moment of silence. "This is embarrassing."

Jason laughed aloud, and Princess gave him a despairing look.

"This isn't funny, Jase!" she said in his mind. "I can't believe we just did that in front of Mark! It was pretty insensitive of us, don't you think?"

Jason could see that having the Eagle as a roommate was going to cramp his style.

"Sorry, Prin." he answered in her mind. "I hadn't thought about that."

"Well next time, make sure you do!" Princess admonished.

Jason grinned to himself. She had said '_next_ time'…

"Okay…" she said aloud. "Moving on… it's time for your bath, Condor." Nurse Swan had returned.

Suddenly, the thought of Princess giving him a sponge bath in front of Mark was not so appealing to Jason.

"Man, I wish I could take a shower." he muttered.

"Do you think you could?" asked Princess, hearing his comment.

"Well, I haven't gotten out of this bed in almost a year." Jason replied, "But I _have_ been able to move my legs."

"The bathroom is only a few steps away," Princess gestured, "and there's a bath chair in the shower. If you could make it there you'd be fine. Do you want to try?"

Jason thought about it, and then nodded. No time like the present.

He nearly reconsidered his decision when Princess brought out a wheeled walker from the closet.

"Sheesh, I'm going to feel like an old lady on that thing!" he exclaimed.

"Only until you don't need it anymore." Princess replied sensibly. Slowly she helped him swing his legs over the side of the bed. Then he shuffled down to the end of the bed. It was only a couple of feet to the bathroom door from there.

"Okay." she said. "I want you to put your feet on the floor and slowly place your weight on them, leaning on the bed for support. If you can do that, I'll help you transfer your weight to the walker."

It took a couple of minutes, but eventually Jason had his feet on the floor and was leaning against the bed. Princess took his hand, and with surprising strength supported him until he was able to grasp the edge of the walker.

With excruciating slowness, Jason pushed the walker forward an inch, and took a step. It was a painful process, but with Princess helping him he was able to make it the three feet to the bathroom. She opened the shower door and helped him step in.

Leaning heavily on the Swan, the Condor collapsed into the bath chair. It was made of sturdy metal and plastic, and had holes to let the water run through. He had made it.

"Okay, Jase, here are the controls for the water temperature and angle." Princess explained, showing him a panel on the wall within easy reach. "I'll be sitting outside in case you need any help." She loosened the ties on the back of his gown and left.

Jason sighed. He was frustrated at how weak he was still. Here Princess was, exhausting herself taking care of _him_, but what he really wanted to do was take care of _her_.

Still, now that he had gone through such an effort to get here, he was going to go through with this. Carefully he pulled off his hospital gown, set the shower controls and turned on the water.

As the warm rain hit his skin, Jason felt himself relaxing. The chair was actually quite comfortable, and he was enjoying the sensation of the water sluicing down his body. He washed himself carefully, then closed his eyes and just let the shower flow over him. His thoughts began to drift.

With his eyes closed, the water felt like fingers massaging his aching limbs. He imagined that they were a massage, and felt the tension ease from his body. The thought crossed his mind that a massage would be even better if it were Princess who was massaging him. She was just outside the shower, after all…

In a dreamy, relaxed, state, the Condor began to fantasize. He could just see the Swan standing up and slowly removing her clothes. Then she would step into the shower with him, drenching herself in the spray before straddling his body and sliding onto his lap…

He vaguely realized that he was beginning to breathe more heavily. His Swan was beautiful… she was sexy… she was… embarrassed?

With a start he opened his eyes, then chuckled softly to himself. It seemed that the mere thought of her opened a connection between them. He was fairly certain that Princess had been a witness to his fantasy.

"I'm just thinking, Prin." he said softly in her mind. "Just something fun. It doesn't mean that I expect this to happen."

"Well, no one would ever accuse you of lacking in imagination, Jason." Her voice gently chided him inside his head. "But it certainly made for interesting… viewing…"

"I live to please you, Princess." He intentionally laced the words with double meaning.

"Unfortunately, I think it's time for you to get out of there." Princess replied. "You've been in there for 15 minutes already."

He hadn't realized that it had been that long.

"Okay…" he said. "I… I think I'll need some help though." He grinned saucily.

"Whatever you need, oh Great Condor." Princess laughed.

She entered the shower, hanging a clean hospital gown on a hook, and carrying a towel. Jason couldn't help but grin as she looked at him sitting there. He didn't have his usual physique by any means, but the implant had restored enough of his muscle tone that she seemed to like what she was seeing. His suspicion was confirmed when an appreciative whistle echoed through his head.

"You certainly look relaxed, Jason." Princess said in his mind.

"I am." Jason replied in hers. He looked at the towel in her hands. "Is that for me?"

The Condor was finding that this silent, yet face-to-face, communication between them was intoxicating. It was so… intimate…

"Don't let me disturb you…" Princess whispered. She swallowed hard and began to dry him off, with long, slow strokes over his body. When she reached his hips his desire for her flared, and he could tell by the blush on her face that she had felt his arousal as well. Shyly, she stood up and looked at him.

"All finished?" she asked flirtatiously.

"Not quite…" he grinned, and reached for her wrist. When she didn't protest, he pulled her into his lap, where she landed, giggling up at him.

Her bottom wiggled on his bare lap, and Jason found himself drawing her close. Princess' lips found his, and their bodies pressed together. Her fingers began to trace the skin on his chest. One of his hands slipped up to hold her thigh, while the other found its way under her blouse to caress her back. She sighed, and the kiss deepened.

Damn, this felt good. And this time, there was no Eagle to observe them.

"Oh no! The Condor!" a voice exclaimed, interrupting their interlude.

It was Nurse Galt. She was in the room.

Princess looked up at Jason in a flash of panic. She leapt to her feet and tossed the clean gown into the Condor's lap.

"Get dressed!" she hissed.

She exited the shower, and Jason could hear her greet Nurse Gorilla as he donned his fresh clothing.

"The Condor wanted to try and take a shower." she said.

"I see…" Nurse Galt replied. "Did he walk, then?"

"I helped him use the walker." Princess explained.

"Ah." the nurse paused. "You realize… I have to report this development to Dr. Myers and Chief Anderson."

"Yes." said Princess quietly.

"But…I suppose I could wait for five minutes." the nurse continued. She paused again.

"Five minutes." she repeated.

"Thank you." Princess whispered.

Jason heard the door to his room open and close again. Princess appeared at the shower door.

"I guess she's human, after all." she smiled, straightening her rumpled clothes.

"Yeah… who would have thought it? " Jason smirked.

Princess helped the Condor back to the walker. They were just exiting the bathroom when Dr. Myers and Chief Anderson entered the room.

"Jason!" Anderson exclaimed, "I heard that you were walking!"

"I see that the Swan's presence has inspired you." remarked the Doctor dryly.

"Jason decided that he didn't want another sponge bath." Princess grinned, "So I helped him into the shower."

"That was quite a long shower…." Jason heard Mark's voice in his head. "What exactly was happening in there?"

"A Condor doesn't kiss and tell." Jason smirked back to the Eagle.

"It's going to be a long and painful recovery with the two of you carrying on like this." complained Mark in a disgruntled voice.

"Well you'll just have to hurry it up, then." Jason remarked, unruffled.

By this time Jason had made it back to the bed. He fell down somewhat heavily. The effort of walking had exhausted him.

Dr. Myers and Chief Anderson discussed this latest physical development while Princess moved off to the side. She smiled at Jason.

"It seems that you're going to have to recover quickly," she said in his mind, "if we want to find someplace where we won't keep getting interrupted."

"You can count on it." Jason winked at her.


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Jason worked for hours every day on his movement. After a week he was able to get himself to and from the bathroom. It was a relief to be able to take care of his own basic needs again. Whenever he got tired of pushing himself physically, he kept remembering Princess' comment about the two of them not being interrupted, and it spurred him onward.

But there was another reason to recover: Mark. He and Princess couldn't help Mark until Jason had sufficiently recovered. And while he didn't say anything, Jason sensed that every day Mark was becoming more and more impatient to break out of his coma-induced shell.

But it was Princess who brought the issue up with Chief Anderson that afternoon.

"Chief, I think that we need to help Mark. Sooner, rather than later."

"I agree." Jason added. "I feel much stronger now. I know I'm ready to help Princess reset his implant."

The Chief nodded quietly.

"I think you're right." he said quietly. "Still, this is a dangerous task you are about to undertake."

"We did it before." Princess protested. "I know what I'm doing."

"That may be so." Anderson replied, "But just because you were lucky once, doesn't mean that you will be again. We will be monitoring you throughout the procedure and will break you out of it at a pre-set time, _whether or not_ you have accomplished your goal.

"I understand." sighed Princess.

"All right, then." the Chief looked serious. "We can make the attempt tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow morning…" Mark echoed longingly in Jason's head.

"I know this has been tough on you, Mark." Jason replied.

"It wasn't so bad when you were with me." Mark said honestly, "But now that you're recovering… it's tough being stuck here all by myself."

"Trust me, I understand." Jason said. "I spent two months by myself before you woke up. I know how tough it is to be stuck in your body all alone."

"I know…" Mark sighed. "Still, it will be good to finally start seeing some improvement."

"You will, Mark." Jason promised his friend.

88888

The next morning, when Princess entered Jason and Mark's room the equipment was all set up according to the information she had given to Chief Anderson. She gave Jason some last minute instructions.

"Jason, since I can't contact Mark, I'd like you to go into his mind first. Then, once you've made contact, reach out to me and I'll try to use your mind as a conduit. Worst comes to worst, if I can't reach him, I'll give you instructions on what to do."

Jason nodded.

"What do you think of that?" he asked the Eagle.

"Whatever gets me back to normal!" said Mark firmly.

"He's good to go." Jason said out loud.

"Then let's begin." said Chief Anderson.

This time a gurney had been brought in for Princess to lie down on. She and Jason had the electrodes attached to their heads. Just before the implant tuning device was switched on, the Swan turned to smile at the Condor.

"See you on the other side, Jason." she said softly.

"You can count on it!" he promised her.

Jason nodded at Dr. Myers, and the device was turned on. His head exploded with pain.

"Jason! Jason! Are you there?" he heard a voice calling him. Focusing on it, he suddenly realized that the pain was gone.

"Thanks, Mark." he said. "Now where's Princess?"

Jason realized that he heard Princess moaning in pain, and called her name. Reaching out to her mind, he guided her towards his contact with Mark.

"Thank you, Jason!" she said.

"Princess!" Mark cried. "I can hear you in my mind! We've connected!" The Eagle sounded exuberant.

"Mark, how wonderful to hear your voice!" said Princess warmly. "I've missed you."

Jason felt a flash of jealousy run through him.

Mark laughed, sensing the Condor's thoughts.

"I don't think you have anything to worry about, Jason." he said.

"I can't believe you guys are needling each other at a time like this!" Princess exclaimed. "We only have a couple of minutes! Mark, you need to let me access your implant."

"Okay, Princess." the Eagle responded.

There was silence for a few moments, Jason began to grow nervous. He was just about to say something when Princess spoke.

"Got it! Okay, Mark, I'm activating your implant now."

"Princess…" Mark said, "That's amazing! What did you do?"

"I re-set your implant." Princess explained. "Exactly as I did with Jason. Well, not exactly. I gave it a little more kick. Our link seems pretty strong, so I toned it down a bit to give your implant more operating capacity. Hopefully, that should speed your recovery."

"This is incredible!" exclaimed Mark. "It feels like… I've been in restraints all of this time, and now you've unlocked them!"

"I'm glad I was able to help, Mark. " Princess said.

Suddenly, she screamed.

The sounds of her agony echoed throughout the Eagle and the Condor's minds.

"Princess!" cried Jason, desperate to reach her, but the screams only increased in intensity.

Then, Jason felt it too. It was like a squeezing on his mind, as if the life were oozing out of him. What the hell was going on?

Just as he felt his head would explode, the pain suddenly stopped.

Slowly, he shook his head and opened his eyes.

His consciousness was back in the hospital room.

"What happened?" he groaned, as he held his head.

"There was some kind of power surge going through the tuning device." said Anderson. His face looked haggard and tired, even though Jason knew it had only been a few minutes since the procedure had begun.

"Well, that's okay…" he moaned. "Princess was able to re-set Mark's implant, and we're out now…"

The Chief did not respond.

"We're out now…" Jason repeated, a sinking feeling settling into his heart. "Aren't we?"

Dr. Myers shook his head slightly.

The Condor turned his head to look at the Swan. She had a blank look on her face and he could barely see her chest move to breathe.

"What's wrong with her?" he cried anxiously, struggling to sit up.

"I think… since she was the last one to make the connection, she was the first one to feel the effects of the power surge." Anderson said quietly.

Jason remembered how she had begun screaming before he had felt anything.

"She did…" he muttered. "But she should be out of it now… shouldn't she?"

"That's what I said…" insisted the Doctor. The Chief silenced him with a glare.

"We don't know why Princess hasn't regained consciousness." he said to Jason.

Jason tried desperately to contact Princess through his implant.

"Prin!" he cried. "Prin! Princess! Please answer me! Princess… please…"

But there was only silence.

"Can you contact her, Jason?" asked Mark.

"No…" said Jason in a strained voice. "Can you?"

"No." came the quiet response.

A tear fell from Jason's eye.

"Sir!" said Dr. Myers in an urgent tone. "I'm getting a signal from the Swan!"

"What?" cried Jason.

"What kind of signal?" asked Anderson.

"It's from her implant." the Doctor explained. "It's still active, and it seems to be working on healing her brain."

"You mean, her brain was damaged?" asked the Condor, shocked.

Dr. Myers looked at the data on his readout.

"It seems so." he replied. "Princess was very lucky the first time she did this that there were no harmful side effects to her little experiment. But it seems that this time wasn't so fortuitous…"

Jason ignored the Doctor's snide remarks.

"Give me the bottom line." he said, grimly.

"Her implant is active, and working to repair her brain." said Dr. Myers matter-of-factly. "Only time will tell if she is able to make a full recovery, or not."

Jason was aghast. Had Princess given Mark a chance at a normal life, only to destroy her own?

The Eagle was apparently having similar thoughts.

"Jason… I… I'm sorry…" he said. "I… I had no idea that something like this could happen. If I hadn't been so damned impatient…"

Jason couldn't respond. While he knew, deep down, that Mark wasn't at fault, he also needed someone to blame. The Eagle made a convenient scapegoat.

88888

Jason had been wanting to take care of Princess, but he had never imagined that his wish would come true in such a terrible fashion. The Condor now spent his days in Princess' room, instead of his own. He had become her caretaker; sitting at her bedside for hours, talking to her, reading to her, or just holding her hand. At first he brushed aside all contact with Mark. It was easier to do since he was in a different room and didn't have to look at the Eagle. But after a few days he couldn't ignore his old friend. One evening as he returned to the room they shared Mark contacted him.

"Jason, _please_, speak to me!" Mark begged.

Relenting, Jason replied.

"What do you want?" he asked sourly.

"Jason, you have to talk to me." Mark stated bluntly. "I feel terrible about what happened to Princess, but it's not my fault. This could just as easily have happened the first time… when she helped you."

"I know." came the curt reply.

"You do? Then why have you been ignoring me all week?" Mark asked, surprised.

"I'm just… having a hard time dealing with this."

"That's not much of an explanation. I'm having a hard time dealing with it too."

"I know… it's just… I've needed some time to think… and to be alone with Princess." Jason attempted to explain.

"What have you been thinking?" Mark asked quietly.

"Mostly about how things have changed. Before all of this happened, I was living the life I thought I wanted. I didn't even think about the end of the war. I was just helping the Federation, and having fun when I could."

"I know what you mean." Mark said. "Before this, I would have given anything to end the war, even my own life. But thinking about the lives of my friends being destroyed… that's another thing altogether."

Jason barely heard him. He was lost in his own train of thought.

"Before this, Princess was a friend, but just a friend. I never even thought of her in any other way. But being with her every day… watching her take care of us… and what she had to go through for that… I've come to realize what a wonderful woman she is…"

"Princess is the kind of person that inspires strong feelings in people." Mark replied. "She affects you… works her way into your consciousness…"

"That's exactly what it is…" said Jason. "She's part of my life, now. And…" his voice got very quiet, "I'm not sure I can live my life without her."

The Condor stifled a sob.

"You can't think that way, Jason!" Mark said firmly. "Princess never gave up on us, did she? And her implant is active. That's a good sign that she _will _regain consciousness."

"But when?" asked Jason bitterly. "Soon enough to avoid brain damage? What if… what if she's…" he shuddered at the possibility. "I think it would be worse for her body to be alive, but her brain to only be barely functional."

"That's not going to happen, Jason." Mark repeated. "Yes, she had to withstand a shock, but I don't think it was any worse than the original light beam we were hit with. She recovered before and she'll do it again. We just have to wait until she wakes up."

Jason sighed.

"I hope you're right…" he said, walking up to his friend and putting a hand on his shoulder. "Thanks, Mark."

"Jason…" Mark said in awe, "I think I felt that!"

"Felt what?" asked Jason in confusion.

"Your hand!" Mark said, more excited now. "I feel your hand on my shoulder!"

"You do?" Jason asked, surprised, "That's terrific, Mark! It must mean that you're recovering!"

"This is great!" Mark whooped. "I never thought I'd be so excited to have you touch me, Jase!"

"Just don't go getting any ideas…" Jason threatened laughingly.

"I guess Princess's treatment really works…" Mark said, suddenly serious again.

"I just hope that she doesn't have to pay too high a price for it." Jason replied sadly.

88888

A week later Jason awoke in the middle of the night to Mark yelling at him in his mind.

"Jason!" he exclaimed, "Wake up! Wake up!"

"What time is it?" Jason groaned.

"I don't know, and I don't care!" Mark shouted, "Prin's awake!"

"What?" Jason sat upright in bed. "Awake?"

"Don't you hear her?" Mark asked. "I did! In my mind…"

Jason listened. He definitely heard _something_… and it did sound like a voice mumbling.

"Princess!" he reached out to her with his implant.

"Wha…." The voice paused for a moment.

"Princess! shouted Mark.

"M…Mark?"

"I'm here too, Prin!" Jason shouted. "I'm coming!" As quickly as he could, the Condor got out of bed and left his room for Princess'.

"Jason?" asked the soft voice. "You're there too? Both of you?"

"Yes!" Mark replied. "We can hear you, Princess!"

Jason entered the Swan's room. She didn't appear to have moved on her bed, but…

When he approached her, he squeezed her hand, and received a small squeeze… more of a slight change in pressure, really… in return.

"Mark! She's moving!" he cried excitedly.

"Where am I?" Princess asked in their minds. "What happened?" Aloud, she groaned quietly. Her eyelids fluttered.

"Princess, thank God you're awake!" Jason cried. A tear slipped out of his eye and splashed onto the Swan's cheek.

Princess' eyes opened at the sudden wetness on her face. Seeing the Condor there, she smiled.

"I told you that I'd see you on the other side, Jase…" she murmured aloud.

"You don't know how good it is to hear your voice again, Prin." Jason said aloud, cradling her in his arms.

Mark was explaining what had happened to Princess after she had reset his implant. The Condor and the Swan lay quietly together, listening to the Eagle speak in their minds.

"A power surge?" Princess asked. "That seems odd… I can't believe that it affected me that way!"

"I guess it effectively tripled the power going through your brain, and overloaded your implant." Mark replied. "At least, that's what the Chief says."

"But it was worth it!" Princess said happily. "I can hear you, Mark! We can communicate! That means that we're linked! You should start recovering soon!"

"I already have!" exclaimed Mark proudly, before Jason could get a word in edgewise.

"You have?" Princess sounded excited. "Tell me all about it Mark!"

"I can feel things now!" Mark elaborated. "It started with feeling someone touch me, and now I can feel the bed and my blankets on top of me… and Nurse Gorilla injecting me with that damn IV needle…"

Princess laughed.

"Mark, it's so wonderful to hear your voice, and to know that you're doing so well!"

Jason felt a surge of jealousy overtake him.

"And with that…" he interrupted. "I think it's time that the Eagle let the Swan get her rest. You guys can talk more tomorrow." The Condor said firmly.

"What?" Mark exclaimed, apparently resenting the possessive tone in Jason's voice. "She just woke up, after being unconscious for two weeks! How much more rest does she need?"

"Two weeks!" Princess cried. "I can't believe I was out that long!"

"She's still weak. She needs to regain her strength." Jason growled.

"I don't see _you_ leaving her alone to regain her strength." Mark countered.

"That's different!" muttered Jason.

"Uh… guys?" cut in Princess, "Can I say something here?"

"How is it different?" Mark asked angrily, ignoring Princess' request. "You're saying that just because I haven't been making out with her every chance I get, I don't care about her?"

"That is beside the point!" yelled Jason. "You can't just barge in on our private conversation!"

"Hey, _I'm_ the one who told _you_ that she was awake!" Mark shouted. "Some thanks I get!"

"Stop it!" Princess cried loudly.

There was silence for a moment.

"That's better." the Swan said in a cross voice. "You two are making my head hurt. I'm going to regret linking with you two if we can't find some way to share the conversation!"

"You're right, Prin." Mark sounded contrite. "I'm sorry."

Jason silently seethed at the Eagle's ass-kissing response.

"What about you, Jason?" Princess asked pointedly.

"I'm sorry, Prin." Jason said. But he wasn't sure he meant it.

"Fine." she replied. "Then you can _both_ turn this thing off and give me some peace and quiet. We'll talk in the morning."

"Sounds good to me…" Jason smirked. After all, _he_ was the one in Prin's room.

"Whatever you want, Prin." Mark said graciously, and he closed the connection.

"Now, Jason, you need to go too." Princess said.

"What? You're not serious." Jason was surprised. "You just woke up! Don't you want to talk to me? To _me_?"

"I do…" Princess said. "Very much. But whatever is going on between you and Mark has to be resolved. I can't be a prize in some tug of war between you. I'm too drained right now to deal with it. Please just go back to your room and work this out with him. For my sake…"

Jason knew that she was right.

"All right, Princess." he acquiesced, hanging his head. "I will."

"Promise?"

"I promise." Jason said.

"All right." Princess said, apparently satisfied. "Now, there's something else…" she continued.

Jason looked up, expectantly.

"I do have two requests to make of you before you go." Princess smiled.

"Anything, Prin." Jason said wholeheartedly.

"First, as soon as you and Mark have worked things out, please contact the Chief and let him know I'm awake, okay?"

Jason was embarrassed that he hadn't already thought of this.

"Okay." he agreed. "And second?"

"Second…" the Swan grinned, "I want you to give me a 'nice to see you again' kiss."

The Condor happily obliged.


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Returning to his own room, Jason steeled himself for the discussion to come with Mark. He knew that he had to draw a line in the sand _now_ to prevent Mark from moving in on his territory.

But why was he so concerned? Hadn't Mark told him that he wasn't going to hold on to Princess any longer?

But that was _before_ she had come back to them. And before Mark had been able to contact Princess on his own, without Jason as an intermediary. Jason knew that the intimacy of telepathic conversation was hard to resist. Being in someone else's mind for hours at a time…

But deep down, what really frightened him was Princess' reaction to communicating with Mark. Jason knew that she had had strong feelings for him at one point. What if talking with Mark brought all of that back for her?

Entering the room, he looked at the Eagle. Outwardly there was no indication that he was awake, but almost immediately Mark spoke in Jason's mind.

"Nice going, Condor." he accused. "You got both of us kicked out!"

"What's your problem, man?" Jason growled. "Why are you trying to horn in on my time with Prin? She woke up tonight! I should be in there with her instead of shut out… and all because of _you_…"

"I'm not the one with the problem!" Mark protested. "You are! _You're_ the one who's acting all possessive… like Princess isn't allowed to speak with anyone else!"

"And just _why_ are you trying to get in cozy with her, all of a sudden?" Jason snapped. "Have you changed your mind about not holding onto her? Because I'm not going to let you…" the Condor threatened.

The Eagle laughed in genuine amusement.

Somehow, that wasn't the response that Jason had been expecting.

"Oh, Jason…" Mark cried between bursts of laughter, "You've got it bad… I never thought I'd see the Great Condor so tied up… over a woman!"

Jason had a sour look on his face.

"I don't see what's so funny!" he declared.

"You are!" Mark insisted. "I'm sorry, Jase. If I had realized this sooner, I wouldn't have been so pushy. I thought that you were just trying to monopolize her time… not that you were _afraid _of her spending time with me."

"I'm not afraid!" Jason protested, a little too quickly.

"Look, Jason…" Mark laid his hand on the table, "I'm not interested in Prin _that_ way. Not to say that I don't find her attractive… I do… but I know a relationship between us would never work. Besides, I'd never move in on my best friend's girl."

Jason was floored.

"I… I appreciate that, Mark." he said quietly.

"But…" Mark continued, "It's been damn lonely, with just you for company. I'd like to talk to Prin too, okay? Not _all _the time… but _some_ of the time." 

A part of Jason resented that Mark was being so _reasonable_ about this, but mostly he was just relieved to know that he didn't have to worry about Mark trying to steal Princess' affections.

"Okay…" he said, reluctantly. "Truce."

It was more for Princess' sake than his, but Jason had resolved to do whatever she asked. He wasn't going to break a promise to her now.

88888

Things were better after that. Now that Princess had awoken, she returned to her normal self within a few days. Mark's recovery took a significant turn for the better as he regained the ability to move his fingers. It wasn't much, but it was definitely a step on the road to full recovery. Between Mark's improvements, and Princess pulling out of her own comatose state, a sea of doctors, nurses and visitors surrounded the three G-Force members. At night, however, they were left to themselves. It was then that the three of them would open a conversation with each other and discuss anything that came to their minds. It was this, more than anything else, that helped dissipate any remaining hard feelings between the Eagle and the Condor.

One evening, shortly after Princess had regained consciousness, Jason contacted her only to find her already in conversation with Mark.

"And then, I wiggled my fingers, but somehow managed to poke her in the side. Who knew that Nurse Gorilla was ticklish?" the Eagle was saying.

"Oh, my!" Princess laughed, "Who knew that you had such a wicked, Condor-like streak in you, Mark?"

"Certainly not, _this_ Condor." Jason interrupted.

"Jason, it's great to hear your voice!" Princess replied. "What have you been doing today while Mark was off tickling the nurses?"

"More physical therapy." Jason answered. "They had me running laps in the pool along with some other funky exercises."

"Sounds… dull." commented Mark. "Still, it would be incredibly exciting compared to what I've been doing lately."

"You'll get your turn." Princess encouraged him. "You've already started movement, Mark. I know you'll be back to your old self, soon."

"Not exactly." Mark replied. "How can I be back to my old self when my old world isn't there to return to? Zoltar and Mala are dead, the war is over, G-Force is on hiatus… what need is there for us anymore?"

Jason sighed. Mark hadn't just said anything he hadn't been thinking himself.

"We've had a lot of training and experience, Mark. And while I hate to think of it, there will probably be another war with someone else in our lifetimes. At the very least, they will want to tap the experiences and knowledge we've picked up in the last few years."

"You might be right, Jason." replied Princess thoughtfully. "And as it stands, we are the only people who have been successfully integrated with the implant technology. Galaxy Security isn't just going to let us disappear into the background and live normal lives."

"A normal life…" Jason's voice was quiet. "What _is_ that, anyway? I wouldn't know normal if it hit me in the face."

"I think you've got a good start…" Mark said slyly. "After all, you and Prin seem to be making some plans along the lines of 'normal' adults…"

"I… I'm not sure what you mean, Mark…" muttered Princess in an embarrassed tone.

"What are you implying, Mark?" Jason asked indignantly.

"Hey, hey…" Mark sent out a mental image of himself throwing his hands up in defeat. "I think it's cute, that's all. I mean, here you two are, dying to be alone together and you're both surrounded all day by the Chief and Dr. Myers and Nurse Gorilla… not to mention Tiny and Keyop…"

"Well, I wouldn't say _dying_…" Princess grinned.

"You wouldn't?" asked the Condor in mock hurt.

"Maybe, I'd just maim myself to be alone with you…" Princess giggled.

"Did I say, _cute_? I meant, nauseating…" Mark laughed.

Despite Mark's joking commentary, he had hit a sore spot for the Condor. Jason desperately missed his private conversations with Princess. Between all of the visitors in the daytime and Mark's presence in their minds at night, they barely had any time alone together.

For his part, Mark tried to be sensitive to Jason's feelings regarding Princess, and Jason tried to give Mark the benefit of the doubt. It wasn't always easy, but they had made their way back to the deep friendship they had shared since childhood.

Then came the day Jason had been waiting for. He was sitting on his bed as Dr. Myers gave him one last checkup.

"Well, Jason." Chief Anderson smiled, "I'm happy to say that it looks like you can be released from the Medical Center."

Jason grinned back at Anderson.

"Music to my ears, Chief!" the Condor replied.

"Are you going to move back into your trailer?" Anderson asked.

"Actually…" Jason gave the Chief a sly look, "I was thinking of staying right here."

"What?" Anderson asked in surprise.

"You are?" asked Mark, shocked.

"Well, you let Princess stay here to take care of us. I can't leave either." He looked over at his Commander. "Not while the Eagle is still recovering."

"I… appreciate… your loyalty to Mark." Anderson replied. "But don't you think it's time that you… and Princess… rejoined the rest of the world?" The Chief winced as soon as the words were out of his mouth.

"There's nothing to rejoin without my best friend." Jason answered firmly. He didn't take offense to the Chief's comments, but he needed to make his position clear.

"Jase…" Mark said, "I know what you're trying to do… and it means a lot to me… but if you want Prin want to get outside… live a normal life…"

Jason turned to look at Mark, but spoke his response aloud.

"And you can just stop with the self-sacrificing crap, Commander." the Condor chuckled. "I know from personal experience how damn lonely it is when you can't talk to anyone. Prin and I are _not _leaving you. At least, not until you've recovered too."

"Thanks…" Mark sounded emotional.

"You would do the same for me." Jason said in the Eagle's mind.

And the matter was settled.

"I'm going to stay right here, in this room." Jason told Anderson. "Unless you want to try and _make_ me leave…" the Condor smiled wickedly.

"No." the Chief sighed. "I would never do that. I understand how you feel, Jason. I'll let you stay on one condition…"

"I think I know what you're going to ask for, Chief." Jason said. "And I promise, as soon as Mark is better, I'll make sure _all_ of us get out of here."

"I'm going to hold you to that, Jason." Anderson replied with a wry smile.

Jason acknowledged the comment with an amused nod.

88888

That evening, after Mark had fallen asleep, Jason used his implant to contact Princess. Earlier, he had told her about his being released, and she had been thrilled. Unfortunately, however, she had been held up with her own medical examinations while the doctors tried to determine what damage the power surge had done to her brain, if any. Fortunately they had not yet found any problems with the Swan's mind whatsoever. It looked as if she was making a full recovery.

However, the tests had kept her out of her room all day and into the early evening, and Mark had been so tired that he had fallen asleep before their usual three-way nighttime conversation.

"Princess…" Jason said, "Are you there?"

"Yes..." she answered. "How are you, Jason?"

"Missing you." he answered honestly. "I don't suppose I could come and visit?"

"What about Mark?" Princess asked.

"He's asleep." Jason answered. "I think today was pretty exhausting for him."

"Okay." Princess replied. "Come on over!"

Jason grinned to himself. Quietly he slipped out of his room and into the Swan's. Her room was dark, but he was easily able to see her as his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting.

"Hi!" Princess said warmly, using her implant. "It's great to see you… alone…" she winked at him as she sat on her bed.

"I've been missing you…" Jason said in her mind.

"How much?" she asked, flirtatiously.

"Let me show you…" he drawled.

Slowly, he pulled her to her feet and into his arms. Like the mental image they had played with so long ago, he held her close and lowered his lips to hers.

Princess melted into Jason's body, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing herself against him.

"Mmmmm…. it's nice to be missed…" she said in his head, while they were still kissing.

"I thought it would be great to have some quality time alone together." Jason replied. "In fact, this is all I've been thinking about…"

"Well then, Condor, feel free to indulge…" giggled the Swan.

The kiss deepened in intensity, and words were forgotten as they soared with each other.

Jason pulled back slightly from Princess, and inwardly smiled as she moaned.

"Ssssshhhhhh… trust me, my Swan…" he whispered, as his hands moved over her body. He couldn't get enough of her gentle curves and soft places… places he had dreamed of exploring.

Princess followed his lead and he felt her touching his bare skin. She had slipped her hands underneath his shirt, and the sensation was setting him afire.

With near-excruciating slowness, they kissed and caressed, until all of their clothing was removed and they fell down on the bed together.

Jason had never experienced intimacy in this fashion. Although they were no words between them, they were using their implants to communicate. Feelings and images flashed through his mind, guiding him as they explored each other's wants and desires. He _knew_ what was giving her the most pleasure, and she knew the same of him in return.

It was incredible.

When their passions were temporarily sated, Princess lay cuddled in his arms as he enjoyed the warm sensation of her lying next to him. Not wanting to disturb the perfect quiet in the room, he spoke in her mind.

"Princess…" he whispered, "I don't know where to begin…"

Jason could feel her smile in response.

"I've dreamed… fantasized… about this for weeks… months…" he continued, searching for words. "But I never expected… this…"

"I know what you mean…" Princess sighed. "I wasn't prepared for the… intimacy… of having you inside my head while…" he could feel her blush.

Jason turned his face to look deeply into Princess' emerald eyes.

"I feel… connected… to you, Prin." he said softly. "I feel like there's a bond between us now… forever."

Her eyes widened in understanding.

"That's_ exactly_ what I'm feeling, Jase." she replied. "It's like… by connecting physically, we've strengthened the link in some way, and we'll never be apart."

"I don't _want_ to ever be apart from you, Princess." Jason said. "I love you."

"I love you, Jason." Princess whispered aloud. Then she kissed him, and he was lost again in the whirling maelstrom of their shared passion.


	15. Epilogue

Epilogue

It had taken Mark another year to fully recover, but finally the day was here. The Eagle was about to be released from the Medical Center.

Although Princess and Jason had tried to be discrete, the bond between them had quickly become apparent to everyone. They literally glowed when they were together, and seemed to innately interpret each other's thoughts. Even Mark, who had an understanding of their telepathic communication, was amazed by the strength of their link, and the depth of their feelings for each other. It was now openly acknowledged that the Condor and the Swan had mated… likely for life.

Despite their closeness, however, one small thing still bothered Jason. Although Mark had agreed not to pursue Princess, he knew that the very fact that they saw each other daily, that they communicated using their minds, was a strong attraction for both of them. While he was happy for Mark and his recovery, he also dreaded the day when the Eagle would be free… perhaps to pursue the Swan.

Letting go of Jason's hand, Princess stood up eagerly when Mark walked into the Ready Room at Center Neptune.

"Mark!" Princess cried, embracing the Eagle, "It's so wonderful to see you out of the Medical Center!"

"I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever see the outside of that hospital room." Mark grinned. Then he suddenly grew serious.

"And I wouldn't have… if it weren't for you, Princess. And you, Jason."

Princess smiled warmly at her Commander.

"It was all worth it, Mark. To see you, and Jason…" she turned to gaze fondly at the Condor, "walking and talking again… I would have given anything for that."

"You almost did." said Jason, quietly.

"And I appreciate it, Princess." Mark said sincerely, holding her hands in his. "I don't think there's anyone else in the universe, other than you two, who would have sacrificed themselves so much for my sake. Thank you."

Princess had tears rolling down her cheeks as she embraced the Eagle again. Pulling away, Mark turned to Jason, and the two friends grasped hands warmly.

"So... what are your plans, now?" Mark asked Jason.

"Prin and I…" Jason paused… he loved talking about the two of them as a unit, "We got ourselves a little house, back on Earth. The Chief offered us jobs with Galaxy Security."

"The Chief offered me a job as well." Mark grinned. "Training fighter pilots… on Riga."

"Riga?" asked Princess, surprised. "You mean… you're moving to Riga?"

"Yes." Mark replied. "I thought… I thought it would be best." He looked at Jason, and the Condor acknowledged the Eagle's sacrifice with a small nod.

"It's the least I can do," said Mark privately, in Jason's mind, "after all you and Princess done for me."

"Thank you." whispered Jason.

As the three of them clung together, Jason felt that his future was bright and open… thanks to one persistent Swan.

He had been sleeping for a long time… and had finally woken up to find his world a better place.


End file.
